Portuguese · Azores · bread

Bolo Lêvedo

Bolo Lêvedo reads sweetness 6.4, richness 6.3 and funk & ferment 4.2 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Portuguese · Azores bread, about 3 hr 9 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 6.4 · Richness 6.3 · Funk & Ferment 4.2 · Salinity 3.6 · Umami 2.1 · Sourness 0.8 · Floral 0.6 · Nutty 0.6

What's in it (9)

Time & effort: about 3 hr 9 min (54 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 321.6 kcal, 15.9 g protein, 7.5 g fat, 57.4 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Bolos lêvedos are the sweet muffin-like griddle breads of Furnas, split and buttered for breakfast or used for a sandwich of grilled chouriço. They are cooked on a flat top, not baked, which is why they have pale sides and two flat browned faces.
  2. Warm the milk to about 35C — blood heat, no hotter — whisk in the sugar and yeast and leave 10 minutes until it is foaming at the surface. If nothing happens in ten minutes the yeast is dead and there is no point going on.
  3. Add the flour, eggs, melted butter and salt and mix to a soft, sticky dough, about 3 minutes. It will be wetter than a bread dough and should not be corrected with extra flour; the wetness is what keeps the crumb tender.
  4. Knead 10 minutes by hand on a lightly oiled surface, or 6 in a mixer with a dough hook, until it is smooth and elastic and pulls away from the surface in one piece.
  5. Cover and let it rise somewhere warm for 90 minutes, until doubled.
  6. Dust the surface with the extra flour, divide the dough into 10 pieces of about 95 g, roll each into a ball and flatten it to a disc 10 cm across and 2 cm thick. Set them on a floured cloth and rest 45 minutes, until visibly puffed.
  7. Rub a heavy flat griddle or cast-iron pan with the butter and set it over LOW heat — this is the step that goes wrong. Cook the bolos 8 minutes a side. They must colour slowly and cook through to the centre; on a medium pan they brown in three minutes and stay raw inside. They should sound hollow and feel light when done. Cool on a rack and split them with your hands, never a knife.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.