Vidigueira Honey and Olive Oil Bolo Podre

Vidigueira bolo podre combines honey, olive oil, eggs and lemon zest in a generous batter. Despite its name, it comes out of the oven golden and moist inside, ready to cut into slices at the table.

A recipe preserved in Vidigueira

This version was recorded in the Alentejo Gastronomic Charter during an interview with Maria Jacinta Furão in Vidigueira. The honey and olive oil go directly into the batter with the egg yolks and sugar; the beaten egg whites are folded in afterwards. This is the simple sequence we follow in this adaptation for a ring cake tin.

Yield: about 10 slices
Total time: about 1 hour and 15 minutes, plus cooling

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• 250 ml honey, such as Serra de Portel Rosemary Honey – 480 g
• 250 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 150 g self-raising wheat flour
• 125 g sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• A little olive oil and flour to prepare the tin

Preparation

1. Prepare the tin and oven. Preheat the oven to 160 °C. Grease a 22 to 24 cm ring cake tin with olive oil and dust it with flour. Shake off the excess.
2. Beat the egg whites. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and set aside.
3. Make the batter base. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the honey, olive oil and lemon zest and mix until smooth.
4. Fold gently to retain the air. Fold in the beaten egg whites in two or three batches, using gentle movements. Sift in the flour and fold it in at the end, just until no dry flour remains visible.
5. Bake and let cool. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for about 45 to 60 minutes. Start checking at 45 minutes: the top should be firm and a skewer inserted into the centre should come out without raw batter, although it may be slightly moist. If it browns too quickly, loosely cover the tin with aluminium foil. Leave it to rest in the tin for 15 minutes before turning it out and cooling it on a wire rack.

Tips for a soft cake

Measure the honey and olive oil before you begin and use room-temperature eggs so the whites beat easily. Baking time depends on the tin and the oven; do not rely on colour alone. Wait until the cake has cooled before cutting even slices.

Wine pairing

Serve a slice with Vinho Vidigueira Licoroso Branco DOC, in a small serving.

Make-ahead and storage

Make the cake the day before and let it cool completely. Keep it well covered in a cool place, and slice it only when ready to serve. If the weather is very hot, store it in the refrigerator and let the slice come to room temperature before eating.

Frequently asked questions

Does bolo podre contain aguardente?

In the source record, aguardente appears in the preparation description, but not in the ingredient list or with a quantity. This version does not include it.

Can I use a cake tin without a hole?

You can, but the centre may take longer to bake. Start checking after 45 minutes and use a skewer to make sure there is no raw batter.

Bring the Alentejo to the table

Prepare the cake with Serra de Portel Rosemary Honey and serve it with Vinho Vidigueira Licoroso Branco DOC. For another sweet recipe, discover our Alentejo-style French toast with honey and cinnamon.

Source

Confraria Gastronómica do Alentejo, Alentejo Gastronomic Charter (2013), p. 951. Recipe for bolo podre collected in Vidigueira during an interview with Maria Jacinta Furão.

Recipe collected in Baixo Alentejo and adapted by Herdade do Estacal for the “À Mesa com o Alentejo” blog. We kept the quantities of honey, olive oil, eggs, flour and sugar from the original list; we omitted the aguardente, mentioned only in the preparation method without a quantity. We used olive oil instead of lard to grease the tin and added the tin size, temperature and indicative baking time.

Illustrative image generated for this article.