Schiacciata Bursting with Grapes (and Cherries)
Hello,
I was captivated by Sylvia’s Sourdough Fig Focaccia [1], and grateful to her for her recommendation of Carol Field’s book Focaccia. I have it on loan from the library, and I’m certain after the book goes back to the library I’ll be shopping on Amazon :^)
Wanting to make something similar to Sylvia's lovely bread, I tried making Ms. Field’s Schiacciata Bursting with Grapes (Schiacciata All’Uva), as fresh figs aren't ripe here yet.
Ms. Field's recipe makes two Schiacciata, so I made one with red seedless grapes, and one with fresh sour cherries:
...bursting with juicy goodness!
I pre-ordered some fresh sour cherries from a local grower (rare! and a luxury where I live) and was able to go pick them up yesterday. Some are now in the Schiacciata, some have been frozen for future pies, and some are marinating in the fridge for homemade eau-de-vie :^)
...the sour cherries!
Ms. Field’s dough recipe looked awfully attractive, as it has anise seed and Sambuca as flavorings for the dough.
The photo in her book of the grape-studded Schacciata is gorgeous, and the bread's flavor lives up to the photo -
it is incredibly delicious!
The grapes and the Sambuca are a fantastic flavor combination imho. We like the sour cherry version too.
Ms. Field notes another filling/topping option…raisins soaked in Vin Santo. Wow!
I found a similar recipe for this bread [2] on the King Arthur Flour site. Compared to the King Arthur Flour recipe, this dough is based on a 150g sponge, 350g flour in final dough, uses butter instead of olive oil, and has 3 Tablespoons of Sambuca liqueur and 2 teaspoons lightly crushed anise seed added to the dough. Each Schiacciata used 1.5 pounds of fruit.
I took a quick look here on TFL and saw these beautiful breads, also:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4507/concord-grape-focaccia [3]
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16370/blueberry-schiacciata [4]
Here are some pictures of the layering for these filled Schiacciata:
The dough (one of four doughballs):
Filling (the fruit was sprinkled with Turbinado sugar):
Layering (pressing the dough to seal):
Topping (sprinked again with Turbinado sugar):
After 15 minutes of baking, the breads were brushed with more Sambuca!
Some crumb shots:
Grape...
....and Sour Cherry
Thanks so much, Sylvia, for reference to Ms. Field's wonderful book!
Happy baking everyone!
:^) from breadsong