Crunchy Blue Grape Focaccia with Rosemary and Roasted Garlic
This is a pretty unique bread recipe. Not the idea of a grape bread; that concept has been done time and again. What’s unique about it is the combination of light, crunchy, golden focaccia that’s chewy where the grapes and garlic melt into the dough. It’s very thin, crisp, and rich with flavor and colour.
Blue grapes are an unusual grape too, and one that I jump on when I’m lucky enough to find them. These particular blue grapes are from the Niagara region, which is a very popular wine region in Ontario. Blue grapes have a thick, intensely purple-blue skin, with soft, juicy insides. They don’t crunch at all, and instead explode with juice in your mouth. They smell like wine, especially when cooked. If you can’t find blue grapes, do not use red grapes! It will not be the same. Friends have tried and reported back - trust me. Use sliced black plums instead.
The bread is also topped with globs of roasted garlic, rosemary, honey and flaky sea salt.
This focaccia would be a real hit on your holiday buffet table, as part of a charcuterie board, paired with a glass of wine, or brought along for a picnic or lunch. It’s best eaten warm, and is delicious when day old and toasted.
Peanut free, nut free, dairy free, egg free, soy free
Ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 cups warm water
2 tsp instant dry yeast - I use Fleischmann’s Traditional Active Dry Yeast in the jar (not sponsored)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 full head of garlic, roasted
1 1/2 cups blue grapes
2 tbsp honey
1 sprig of rosemary
1/3 cup of olive oil, divided
Flaky sea salt and black pepper - go by eye
Add the flours and salt to a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the center and add the yeast, followed by the warm water, olive oil, and maple syrup. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until it’s cloudy and the yeast is puffy and floating. Mix until it starts to come together, then switch to using your hands to bring it together into a dough. Knead for about a minute, until it becomes more elastic, but is still very wet.
Crumple the parchment with your hands, into a ball, to make it more malleable. This will make it easier to line the pan with.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. You can transfer the dough to a separate, oiled bowl, if you prefer, but I have edited this recipe over time to reduce the cleanup as I now have a small child. You can rise the dough in the same bowl you made it in and it will be fine! Let rise in a warm area for 2.5 hours. It should more than double in size, and be very jiggly. Then, punch it down and transfer to either a well oiled (1/4 cup of olive oil from the ingredients list) sheet pan or a parchment-lined sheet pan. I prefer to bake it in an oily sheet pan because it will result in a crunchier crust, but if you are new to baking focaccia and you worry about the dough sticking, you can line the pan with parchment. If using parchment, please still grease with about 1/4 of the olive oil. Spread the dough out evenly in the pan, getting oil all over it.
Let rise again for another 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
To roast the garlic, wrap the entire bulb in aluminum foil and bake at 400F for 45 minutes - 1 hour. It should be creamy and golden inside. Let it cool, then slice the top off so you can squeeze out the insides.
Mash the squeezed out garlic until creamy. When the dough has had its final rise, splatter the garlic mash all over the surface. Drop on the grapes, honey, and rosemary leaves. Drizzle the remaining olive oil on top. Season well with salt and black pepper. If you are having trouble distributing your roasted garlic, mash it with some olive oil first and then dollop onto the focaccia, as demonstrated below.
Place the tray in a preheated 420F oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden and crispy. At the end of baking, broil it for about a minute to make the honey and oil sizzle - but watch it very closely and take it out as soon as it is done! When cool enough to touch, cut into squares.
Makes 12 squares
