Bolo do Caco #BBB

This month we are trying a nifty little Madeiran flatbread made with sweet potatoes.  Typically they are made with white sweet potatoes, but will work with red as well, though they may need less water for those garnet sweet potatoes.  The breads are crispy on the outside and soft and slightly sweet inside from the sweet potato, and are cooked on a hot stone or griddle.  Cast iron or a heavy bottomed pan is a good stand in.  The breads are usually served warm, and slathered with butter or garlic and parsley butter.  They are also used to make sandwiches.  My kiddo has made breakfast sandwiches out of them the past two days and heartily approved of the first tasting, split and buttered.

We would love to have you try out this no-oven-required flatbread with us this month and share how it turned out and what you thought!  New recipes are posted every other month on the 16th. (Next bake in June 2024).  Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.  If you would like to post your results with a Buddy badge on a blog, let us know in the comments or on the Facebook page. 

Bolo do Caco
Makes eight 4-5-inch or 4 pan sized loaves

350g cooked and mashed white sweet potatoes
500 g spelt flour, plus extra for dusting (I used 200g fresh ground kamut and 300g all purpose)
9 g salt
5 g instant yeast (I used a little more which resulted in some puffing during cooking)
250-275 g water
garlic butter to serve

Bake potatoes at 375ºF for 45 minutes or until soft. Leave to rest in the oven with the oven off and door open. Remove skin and puree flesh.  (I steamed and riced my white sweet potato.)

In a bowl or mixer, combine 250g of the water, the yeast and cooled sweet potato.

Add in the flour and salt, and mix.  The dough should be soft and pliable and not too dry, aim for tacky.  Add the remaining water if needed to achieve a soft, workable dough.

Let the dough rest for a few hours, performing stretch and folds periodically.  The dough may also be moved to the refrigerator for the next day.  When ready to bake, allow to rise until doubled.

Divide the dough into desired portions and form into balls.  Flatten into disks and let rest for 15 minutes.  

Heat a dry, heavy bottomed pan over medium low heat.  Cook each disk, turning regularly, until browned and crisp on the outside and at least 200ºF in the middle.  Mine puffed quite a bit, perhaps from the extra yeast, but they were still delicious.  For my sized dough and pan, I cooked 2 minutes each side, then 1 more minute each side for perfectly done. 

 

Serve warm, with plenty of butter or garlic and parsley butter.

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
  
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen