Algarve Bread-Dough Cake
A large dark moist bread-dough cake with honey, coffee, port and spices.
- Origin
- Algarve uplands
- Region
- Algarve uplands
- Season
- Year-round · especially celebrations
Bolo de Massa de Pão is a large round cake from the Algarve uplands, made with or without a central hole. Bread dough receives sugar, eggs, honey, coffee, olive oil, port, chocolate, bicarbonate, anise, cinnamon and orange zest, producing a very dark colour and moist interior.
The ingredients are first mixed by hand; as the dough softens, a wooden spoon takes over. It bakes in a pot or ring mould, greased and lined with baking paper.
- bread dough
- sugar
- eggs
- honey
- coffee
- olive oil
- port
- chocolate
- bicarbonate
- anise
- cinnamon
- orange
Dark, moist and aromatic, layering honey, coffee, chocolate, port, orange and spices over a bread base.
It may be a solid round or a ring and is also called Bolo de Mel and Bolo Podre in the Algarve.
At traditional bakeries and celebrations in the Algarve uplands.
Coffee, black tea or medronho spirit.
It belongs to the upland family of cakes built on bread dough. An oral tradition claims it inspired Madeira honey cake through population links between the Algarve and Madeira, but the official source considers that genealogy unlikely. In the Algarve it is also called Bolo de Mel or Bolo Podre, though it is distinct from Alentejo's bolo podre.
Sources: tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt
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