Fresh Berry Focaccia

I've made focaccia, awesome focaccia, but not sweet focaccia. This dough is typical focaccia dough, but with berries pressed into the dough pieces, and a streusel generously spread over the top. The dough is super wet, requires an overnight refrigeration, and does not contain sugar. The contrast between the slightly savory and sweet is interesting. The dough is really easy to handle.

The Twelve Loaves inspiration this month was to use summer fruit in a bread recipe. I came across this recipe in Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan so I thought I'd give it a try.

My random observations:

1. The dough is elastic and bubbly, but not sticky, after sitting for 36 hours in the cold fridge.
2. The dough did not brown in this sweet interpretation, probably because I baked two sheets at a time.
3. Do not bake two baking sheets at a time.
4. The recipe calls for a lot of streusel.

Okay... other than that, I'm going to try this again by baking one sheet at a time to see if they brown. I'm also going to try using a steam pan. Maybe I'll use less streusel. Oh, by the way, the pastries are tasty.

In the book this recipe is called Sweet Berry Fougasse

Adapted from Baking with Julia. Makes 12 pieces.

Focaccia

2 1/2 C 90 degree water

2 T active dry yeast

1/4 C olive oil

27.6 ounces unbleached all purpose flour

4 t salt

Mix 1/2 C of the water with the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside to let the yeast disolve. Pour the rest of the water and the olive oil into the bowl and mix. Add the salt and half the flour and stir. Add the rest of the flour and mix with the dough hook on low speed for three minutes. Next, mix on medium high for 10 minutes. They dough should be very elastic. This is a very wet dough.

Remove the dough from the bowl, shape into a ball, and place it into a oiled bowl or dough rising bucket, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise until doubled, 60 to 90 minutes.

Remove it from the bowl, do a couple of "stretch and folds" and place the dough back into the bowl to double again, about 45 minutes.

Cut the dough into three equal pieces, shape the pieces into balls, and place them into one gallon zip lock bags that have been sprayed with spray oil. Refrigerate the dough for 24 to 36 hours.

Remove the dough pieces from the refrigerator about 1 hour before you plan on shaping it. Remove them from the bags and place them on a floured surface and cover with oiled plastic wrap.

Streusel and Berries

1 3/4 C flour
1 T cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 pints of fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries are good)

Stir the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg together
Toss the sugars and butter pieces to coat.
Add the flour and mix with your fingers until you have a crumbly mixture.

Assemble and Bake

Gently shape each piece of dough into a 10 inch square. Cut each square into four pieces and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment that has been sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina.
Press berries into the dough and generously top with streusel. Rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes, spraying the oven with water three times during the first 8 minutes (I will try using a steam pan instead). Bake until the pastries are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool.

These do not age well, so freeze any leftovers for up to two weeks.