Bolo Lêvedo

Ingredients

• 500 g plain white flour (type 65)
• 125 g caster sugar
• 125 g butter, cut into cubes
• 15 g fresh baker's yeast (or 7 g instant dried)
• 200 ml whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp extra flour, for dusting

Before you cook

• Sift the flour and sugar together into a large mixing bowl.
• Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them lightly with a fork.
• Cut the butter into small cubes so it melts quickly.
• Lay a clean tea towel on a tray and dust it generously with flour.

Steps

1. Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat, then take it off the heat to cool.
2. Warm the milk in a separate pan until it feels only just warm on the inside of your wrist.
3. Crumble the fresh yeast into the warm milk and stir until it dissolves completely.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour and sugar and pour in the yeasted milk.
5. Add the beaten eggs and the melted butter to the well.
6. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is drawn in and a soft, sticky dough forms.
7. Sprinkle in the salt and knead the dough in the bowl for eight to ten minutes, until it turns smooth and elastic.
8. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave the dough somewhere warm for about ninety minutes, until doubled in size.
9. Knock the dough back and divide it into ten equal pieces of roughly 100 g each.
10. Roll each piece into a ball and set it on the floured cloth, leaving a wide gap between them.
11. Dust the tops with flour, cover with a second cloth, and leave them to rise for one hour more.
12. Press each ball down with your palm into a flat disc about 10 cm across and 2 cm thick.
13. Heat a dry heavy frying pan or flat griddle over low heat for five minutes.
14. Lay two or three discs into the dry pan and cook them for six to eight minutes, until the underside is deep golden and freckled.
15. Turn them over and cook the second side for another six to eight minutes.
16. Press the edge of one bolo with a finger; it should spring straight back and feel dry rather than doughy, so give it longer on low heat if it does not.
17. Stack the cooked bolos inside a folded cloth so they stay soft while you griddle the rest.
18. Split them open while still warm and spread them thickly with butter to serve.