Although I’ve spent many years cooking and coming up with new recipes in my kitchen, baking has always been a bit of a mystery to me. The perfect formulas that go into each and every baking creation, and they are truly creations as far as I’m concerned, are just not something that I’ve been able to wrap my head around. Cooking has always come easy to me. A pinch of this, a dash of that and before you know it, you have something truly worth eating. But baking, one wrong pinch, one poorly calculated dash and you end up with something dry and flavorless or, even worse, a mess that refuses to rise or bake to completion as I found out during my attempt to make my beautiful disaster cake.
Because I think that always learning something new is vital to staying relevant and connected to the world around us, I recently decided to challenge myself to learn baking techniques that have always eluded me. This is why, for those of you who have followed this blog from it’s inception, you’re going to see a bit of a shift as I delve into the inner-workings of my oven, baking pans, rolling pins and my newly acquired food scale. I hope that you like this change and are patient with me as struggle through what I’m sure will be a myriad of failures speckled through with what I hope to be some beautiful (and delicious) results that I’ll be sharing with you on my journey.
The scariest of all bakes to me has always been bread. So, of course, I had to start here (eye roll). After all, isn’t falling in the water the best way to learn how to swim? I haven’t tested this theory so please don’t try this. Yes, in case you’re wondering, I have been baking challah for years. After all, isn’t this the right of passage for every Jewish cook? I’m sure that somewhere in the Torah there’s a passage for “though shall bake challah”. But, because I’ve been baking challah for so many years, there’s something instinctive to me about it, unlike the dark hole category of all other breads. So, the safest place to start for me, was with a truly trusted recipe that I could simply follow from beginning to end.
As I had mentioned in a previous post, I love the Smitten Kitchen blog. So, recently, while searching through some old posts, I came across a recipe for a grape focaccia with rosemary. Not only did this sounded amazing to me flavor-wise, but the instructions, in typical Deb Perelman style, were so approachable that even I, a novice bread baker, felt confident that I could tackle them.
There was only one problem, the recipe called for Concord grapes which are not currently in season. But surely that shouldn’t stop me, right? So, I opted to use blueberries instead. Not the same thing but a viable option nontheless. Then, just for the heck of it, because I happen to love lemon and blueberry pairings, I decided to add some candied lemon slices as well given that we’re currently enjoying a beautiful spring and this seemed like a perfect flavor combination, especially when combined with the olive oil, flaky salt, course sugar and rosemary that the recipe called for. If you’re not a fan of using whole lemon slices (pith and all), I totally get it and you can completely leave them out. However, if you’ve never had candied lemon, you’re in for a treat. Soaking the lemon in what amounts to a simple syrup completely tames the bitterness and you end up with the most delicate, slightly tart, just a bit sweet and truly irresistible version.
So, I turned on my oven, put on my apron, said a few prayers and set off on my bread making journey. And I must admit, that, next to tossing a few simple ingredients that you may already have on hand (water, milk, sugar, yeast, olive oil, flour and salt) into the bowl of a stand mixer, the hardest part of this process was waiting for the dough to proof. Initially 1 1/2 hours, which proved to be a great time to go for a walk. Followed by 20 minutes, perfect amount of time to make my lunch. Then, another 1 1/4 hours which gave me time to eat lunch, catch up on some family news and make the candied lemon slices which, by the way, are totally optional (the lemon slices that is, not the other stuff).
Overall, not all that different than making challah. And, although I was impatient to move along to the next steps so that I could see the results of my first focaccia bake, I must admit, that the dough worked harder during the proofing process than I did. Once the proofing was done, I just scattered the blueberries, lemon slices, salt, sugar and rosemary over the bread and popped it in the oven for about 15 minutes.
What finally came out of my oven was one of the most delicious, if not the most delicious breads that I have ever tasted. Something about the sweetness of the blueberries and course sugar combined, with the slight tartness of the lemon slices, the fruity olive oil, flaky sea salt and rosemary is the stuff that dreams are made of. And I haven’t even begun to mention the golden brown exterior, the perfectly crispy edges or the pillowy soft interior with lots of air pockets that we’ve all come to expect from this Italian masterpiece.
This recipe makes two full sized focaccias, which sounded like a lot to me at first but it was gone in the blink of an eye. It was that good. And, although I will definitely look forward to making this focaccia the way it was intended with Concord grapes in the fall, one bite of this springy/summery version and thoughts of a lakeside picnic with wine and cheese, and of course this treat, popped into my head. I would imagine that it would be equally as good alongside a charcuterie board or just by itself with a glass of wine, making it the perfect little appetizer to serve to your guests at a cocktail party or to bring along with you to any type of gathering. And, if you happen to have any leftovers, it happens to store well overnight on the countertop, tightly wrapped in some plastic wrap, making it the ideal breakfast.
I hope that you decide to give this Blueberry And Candied Lemon Focaccia recipe a whirl. If you do, please let me know what you think or tag me on Instagram. I always love hearing from everyone and seeing pictures of anything that you make. And above all, thank you so much for stopping by.
Blueberry and Candied Lemon Focaccia
Ingredients
Focaccia:
- ¾ cup warm water (105 °F – 110 °F)
- 2 tbs milk, slightly warmed
- 1½ tsp sugar
- 1¼ tsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 6 tbs extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1¼ cups blueberries, cut in half
- candied lemon slices
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary
- 2 tbs turbinado sugar
- 2 tsp coarse sea salt
Candied Lemon:
- 1 lemon, very thinly sliced and seeded
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, stir together the water, milk, sugar and yeast. Turn the mixer off and allow the mixture to sit at room temperature until foamy (about 10 minutes). Add the flour, salt, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix on low speed until just combined. Switch to a dough hook, and knead the dough for 8 minutes on medium-low speed.
- Brush a large bowl with a generous amount of the olive oil, place the dough in the bowl and brush the top with more olive oil. Make sure that the dough is completely covered with oil to prevent drying. Cover with plastic and allow the dough to rise in a cool place until it doubles in size, about 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
- While the dough is proofing, make the candied lemon. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the lemon slices, reduce the temperature and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20- 25 minutes until the lemon slices are opaque. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the lemon to a plate covered with parchment paper and allow to cool.
- Once the dough has risen, press it down with a floured hand. Remove the dough to a well floured work surface and divide it into two balls. Brush a large baking sheet (or two small ones) with olive oil. Place the two balls of dough on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops with more oil to prevent drying. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and allow it to sit in a cool dry place for about 20 minutes.
- Dip your fingers in olive oil and gently press the dough into two 8-9 inch circles (I ended up with ovals instead). Don't worry if the dough is dimpled from your fingers as this is totally fine. Cover loosely with a towel and allow the dough to rise again in a cool, dry place for about 1 1/4 hours.
- Preheat oven to 450 °F. Brush the tops of the dough with the remaining 4 tablespoons of olive oil, top with the blueberries, lemon slices and rosemary. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the turbinado sugar and sea salt. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and slightly puffed around the edges. Cool before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.