Madeira's traditional dark fruit cake, made with cane molasses not honey. Dense with walnuts, almonds, candied peel and raisins, heavily spiced. Its keeping quality is its defining trait. Madeirans make it at Christmas and eat it from Christmas to Epiphany.
A dense, dark, deeply spiced slice studded with nuts and candied fruit, the molasses giving a bitter-sweet depth beneath the sweetness of the fruit, cinnamon and clove warm on the finish. Better after a few days.
The cake's character comes from molasses and the long rest. Cane molasses (not honey despite the name) gives the dark colour, bitter-sweet depth and moisture that keeps the cake fresh for weeks. The batter is heavy with nuts, candied peel and dried fruit, leavened with baking powder and enriched with butter or lard. Spices — cinnamon, clove, black pepper — are generous. The cake is baked low and slow, around 160 degrees C, then wrapped and rested for days before cutting, during which the molasses permeates and the texture settles into dense, fudgy sliceability. Traditionally made in a ring or flower-shaped mold and broken (not cut) into pieces.
Variations
Modern versions sometimes use honey instead of molasses. Some add cocoa for extra darkness. A round flower-shaped mold is traditional.
On the Palate
Where Bolo de Mel sits in the Portuguese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 14 min
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C; grease a 24cm round or ring tin.
- 25 min
Melt 200g butter with 250g cane molasses and 150g 糖; cool slightly.
- 36 min
Beat in 4 eggs one at a time, then stir in 150g chopped walnuts, 100g chopped almonds, 150g chopped candied peel and 100g raisins.
- 45 min
Sift 350g plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ground clove and 1/2 tsp black pepper; fold into the wet mix.
- 58 min
Pour into the tin and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs.
Watch outPull it when a skewer comes out with moist crumbs, not clean — bake it dry and the molasses cake turns hard instead of fudgy.
- 64 min
Cool, wrap in parchment, and rest 3 days before cutting into thin slices.
Watch outWrap and rest it three full days before cutting — that's when the molasses works through and the crumb settles into dense sliceable fudge.
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