Boozy, Fruity Cranberry & Apple Focaccia
Something a little different – a fruity focaccia with dried cranberries plumped up with sherry. It’s a bit like a light fruit cake or bread and butter pudding without the egg mixture. Topped with honey and nuts adds a little sweetness and bursts of fruit as you bite into a slice. It’s moist enough to eat on its own or serve with crème fraiche, custard or ice cream.
Ingredients
500g strong white bread flour
10g yeast
5g fine salt
30ml olive oil
Approx 345ml cool water
180g dried cranberries
2 apples
30ml sherry
80ml olive oil for drizzling
3 tbsp chopped pistachio nuts
2 tbsp demerara sugar
4 tbsp honey
Method
1. Put the dried cranberries into a bowl and add in the sherry. Leave to soak for a good few hours or even overnight.
2. Into a large bowl, tip in the flour, yeast and salt. Keep the yeast and salt on separate sides of the bowl. Add in 30ml of olive oil, 2 tbsp of honey and gradually the water, bringing it into a dough. I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook and knead for 8 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for 10 minutes. Mix in 150g of the soaked cranberries and 2 tbsp of the pistachio nuts.
3. Cut, core and quarter both the apples. Leave the skins on.
4. Put two quarters aside. With the remaining six quarters, slice each into five segments. Fold these carefully into the dough until they are mixed in. Cover the dough and leave to prove in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
5. I used a terracotta dish 24cm diameter. Line a similar-sized baking tin with baking parchment. Drizzle with olive oil and spread it over the parchment paper with your fingers.
6. Carefully tip in the risen dough and spread it out to fill the dish. Drizzle the top with a little more olive oil and make indentations with your fingers into the dough. You should see lots of bubbles. Cover and leave to prove for a further hour.
7. Light your BBQ – you want to set it up for indirect cooking at a temperature of 180°C.
8. Once the dough has risen or at least doubled in size, use up the remaining dried cranberries and push into the dough. Thinly slice the remaining apple quarters and arrange these on the top of the dough and sprinkle with the last of the chopped pistachios. Drizzle with any remaining olive oil and finish off with the demerara sugar.
9. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top has taken on a lovely colour and the inside is cooked. Test with a skewer. Drizzle over 2 tbsp of honey while still warm.
BBQ Baking Tip:
I place an upturned baking tin onto the grill and sit the baking dish on top of that. This helps stop the base becoming overbaked.
More Recipes Ideas from Sue Stoneman
Method
1. Put the dried cranberries into a bowl and add in the sherry. Leave to soak for a good few hours or even overnight.
2. Into a large bowl, tip in the flour, yeast and salt. Keep the yeast and salt on separate sides of the bowl. Add in 30ml of olive oil, 2 tbsp of honey and gradually the water, bringing it into a dough. I use my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook and knead for 8 minutes. If kneading by hand, knead for 10 minutes. Mix in 150g of the soaked cranberries and 2 tbsp of the pistachio nuts.
3. Cut, core and quarter both the apples. Leave the skins on.
4. Put two quarters aside. With the remaining six quarters, slice each into five segments. Fold these carefully into the dough until they are mixed in. Cover the dough and leave to prove in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
5. I used a terracotta dish 24cm diameter. Line a similar-sized baking tin with baking parchment. Drizzle with olive oil and spread it over the parchment paper with your fingers.
6. Carefully tip in the risen dough and spread it out to fill the dish. Drizzle the top with a little more olive oil and make indentations with your fingers into the dough. You should see lots of bubbles. Cover and leave to prove for a further hour.
7. Light your BBQ – you want to set it up for indirect cooking at a temperature of 180°C.
8. Once the dough has risen or at least doubled in size, use up the remaining dried cranberries and push into the dough. Thinly slice the remaining apple quarters and arrange these on the top of the dough and sprinkle with the last of the chopped pistachios. Drizzle with any remaining olive oil and finish off with the demerara sugar.
9. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top has taken on a lovely colour and the inside is cooked. Test with a skewer. Drizzle over 2 tbsp of honey while still warm.
BBQ Baking Tip:
I place an upturned baking tin onto the grill and sit the baking dish on top of that. This helps stop the base becoming overbaked.
