The first time I ate flatbread topped with fruits was some years ago in Italy. Particularly, somewhere in the countryside of Tuscany, I visited as a part of a group a farm where the host introduced to us some of the local foods. Among them is a focaccia-type of bread, locally known as Sciacciatta. That particular one was a sciaccatta all’uva, meaning it was topped with grapes. I still remember my surprised look, when the host after layering the focaccia dough onto a baking pan pinched some grapes into it and sprinkled a bit of sugar before baking it.
Since then, making fruit focaccia became a favorite habit. Strangely enough, I have never baked grape focaccia but through the years I adopted a ritual that has to do with welcoming as well as saying goodbye to summer through focaccia made with seasonal fruits.
Basically, at some point in June when cherries are abundant, I never miss making cherry focaccia, while towards the end of August when figs, my favorite fruit, come on the table I go for a fig one. This provides that I resist and manage to pinch the figs cut in half into the dough before I simply combine them with some Greek yogurt and eat them as such!
Focaccia with fruits
Baked in a 28cm-diameter pan
Dough
400g flour*
300-320g (75-80% dough hydration) water
80g active sourdough
6g salt
40g extra virgin olive oil
Toppings
fruits (grapes, figs, cherries)
salt
sugar
extra virgin olive oil
* I use two parts of white/bread flour for dough structure and one part of whole grain flour for taste and character. In most cases, the whole grain flour comes from hard (durum) wheat which I like a lot
- Mix well in a bowl all the ingredients for the dough until the flour is fully hydrated. Cover and let the dough rest for 30 min.
- Work the dough simply by performing 3-4 rounds of stretch-and-folds every 15-20 min.
- After the last stretch-and fold round (the dough should look smooth, cohesive, and elastic) cover the bowl and let the dough rise/ferment until it grows in volume between of 50-100% its original size.
(The fermentation time depends on the exact room temperature, roughly between 5-8 hours)
- After the dough has risen transfer the bowl to the fridge and let it there overnight.
- Next day, bring the bowl back to room temperature, let it stand for 30-60 min, and scrape it off onto a well-oiled pan.
- Using also oiled hands spread gently the dough to cover the pan surface. If it resists the stretching, let it rest for a bit of time and try again.
- Pinch into the dough the fruits cut in half and the inner part facing upwards (if grapes use them whole). Sprinkle a bit of salt and sugar and drizzle with some olive oil.
- Bake in a pre-heated at 200°C oven for 40-60 min or until the top looks golden brown.