A dark, dense spiced cake built on sugarcane molasses, candied peel, nuts and a long list of spices. It is broken by hand rather than cut, and it keeps for a year.
Bolo de mel is the direct descendant of Madeira's sugar economy. The mel in the name is not bee honey but cane molasses, the residue of the mills that made the island rich in the 15th century. Households baked it in December for Christmas and kept it through the year, which the spice, dried fruit and molasses content allows. Cutting it with a knife is held to bring bad luck, so it is torn apart. Fábrica Santo António has been making it on Travessa do Forno since 1893.
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