Fresh yeast: 20g fresh yeast or 5g instant dried yeast
Wheat flour: 1kg wheat flour, plus extra for dusting
Salt: 2 tsp sea salt
Butter: Garlic butter or salted butter, to serve
Learn how to make an easy and delicious five-minute Portuguese flatbread, known as bolo (cake) with this recipe from chef Leandro Carreira
"Even though it is called bolo (cake), this is a flatbread. Cooked on a caco (basalt stone slab) over a wood fire, it has a thin, crunchy crust and a soft, airy crumb. In the Madeira archipelago, bolo do caco is sold by street vendors, eaten with melted butter, or served in restaurants paired with regional dishes," says Carreira.
How to make five-minute flatbread
Combine the flour and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Alternatively, combine in a large bowl.
Put the yeast into a bowl, add 160ml lukewarm water and stir until dissolved.
Add to the flour and mix on medium speed for 15 minutes or until a smooth dough forms.
Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
On a lightly floured work counter, divide the dough into 4 equal balls, then flatten them with your hands to a disc, 2 cm thick.
Heat a plancha, flat grill or sauté pan. Dust the plancha with flour and cook the bolos for 6 minutes on each side, or until golden. Flip them around and cook around the edges, about 2 minutes.
Serve warm with garlic butter or salted butter.
Excerpted from Portugal: The Cookbook by Leandro Carreira.
This article was last updated on 04/04/2025.
