For The Love Of Port

Dear members of this forum, I need your :help:
I wanted to post a recipe for a typical Madeira-style "Bolo de Mel" on the MadeiraWineGuide website. So I searched the internet and came across a number of recipies from simple to very complex. I have tried a few of the more simple ones so far but the results are devastating. Not one of the cakes came close to that dark-brown, spicey and crumbly "Bolo de Mel" I know from Madeira island that goes so well with the sweeter Madeira wines. And there are other recipies that sound a little gross. Reading things like "take two pounds of lard" make my coronaries pinch in fear of all that cholesterol...
So has anyone of the you Madeira lovers out there a SIMPLE and PROVEN recipe for a typical "Bolo de Mel" that I might use? And if it works - might I get permission to post it in the info-section of the MadeiraWineGuide?
They time to start preparing the "Bolo de Mel" for christmas is coming closer, so please dig out a recipe soon.
Thank you

Peter

PS: the attached picture shows what I'm looking for

The only one that I know who will have this is the family members of er Marco DeFreitas. Hopefully, he will stop by here and post. He has brought the delicious cake to Madeira Road Show tastings and they were amazing.

I am sure this could be found online too.

Peter,

I share your pain. I've researched recipes in the past and tried to make it as well, but all attempts have been miserable failures. I remember one recipe that had me kneading the dough every few hours... I got no sleep that night.

Fortunately I have an uncle who lives in Funchal and visits every now and then, bringing lots of bolo de mels with him to distribute to family members as souveniers.

Don't shy away from the lard. My best attempt came from using lard and butter: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:M ... Honey_Cake, but even that one wasn't quite right.

From what my relatives tell me, it's all in using the right kind of molasses. You really need the sugar cane molasses that is made on the island.

Good Luck, let me know if you stumble on something that works!

Marco D. wrote:Peter,

I share your pain. I've researched recipes in the past and tried to make it as well, but all attempts have been miserable failures. I remember one recipe that had me kneading the dough every few hours... I got no sleep that night.

Don't shy away from the lard. My best attempt came from using lard and butter: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:M ... Honey_Cake, but even that one wasn't quite right.

From what my relatives tell me, it's all in using the right kind of molasses. You really need the sugar cane molasses that is made on the island.

Good Luck, let me know if you stumble on something that works!

Thanks for the recipe link Marco.

I'm going to do some baking experiments. Is that recipe that you linked for 100 cakes?

I ordered some sugar can molasses from Madeira as well as some good quality US made sugar cane syrup and sugar cane molasses. I'm curious to see if either of the US made products taste similar to the Madeira product, which would certainly make things easier. Regardless, I'll try baking with all of them and see what I get.

Mike K. wrote: I ordered some sugar can molasses from Madeira as well as some good quality US made sugar cane syrup and sugar cane molasses. I'm curious to see if either of the US made products taste similar to the Madeira product, which would certainly make things easier. Regardless, I'll try baking with all of them and see what I get.

Don't forget to report back on how it all worked out...

Taking a shot using the recipe Marco linked to above. It's quite involved, let the bakers dough rise for a day, make the dough the next day, let it rest for 3-4 days, and then bake. Several recipes say to then let the completed cake rest for a few days/weeks to develop full favor.

I divided the recipe by 9, which looks about right for one large cake or two small ones. Just finished mixing up the batter and will test my patience by letting it rest a few days before baking. It tastes right - so far so good.

I was able to order a jar of sugar cane syrup from Madeira. I also bought two jars of American 'equivalent' to compare. One is 'sugar cane syrup', and one is a heavier molasses. I've been spoon tasting them side by side and the Steen's molasses is nearly identical to the Madeiran cane syrup. The Steen's cane syrup is a bit lighter in flavor.

Stay tuned ...

MIke
That’s a slow process. Look forward to reading how it turns out.

Yeah, can't wait to hear how it turns out!

Still working on this project. Baked a new batch tonight to enjoy over the weekend. Once I’m happy with the recipe I’ll post it here. One deviation from tradition - I enjoy nuts, but by themselves and never in my dessert. So no almonds in or on these lovely cakes

Another variation - the above recipe calls for pork fat. Most recipes I’ve come across stress the importance of the pork fat. I rendered down some pork fat the first time around, quite a pain. Since then I found I could buy containers of rendered duck fat and have been using that since. So much easier.