Dried Fruit Focaccia

After seeing an article in my local newspaper for Martha Stewart's Dried Fruit Focaccia, I wanted to make it. I love focaccia and one that is lightly sweetened and packed with dried fruit sounded delicious in general, as well as seeming like a good winter bread.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the recipe in my rather large pile o' newspaper clippings and, eventually, opted to abandon my search and just wing it. To my dough I added dried tart cherries and golden raisins, both of which I remembered seeing in Martha's version (which I finally found here, if you're curious), and some cinnamon. I didn't use sugar, used far less oil and ended up with a smaller bread than Martha's. But, particularly considering I looked at the original recipe for about 30 secondes, it came out really well and was a very tasty bread. Since it is thinner than your average focaccia, it is also crisper. In fact, I discovered that this makes excellent toast, tasting just like cinnamon raisin bread - hardly suprising given both the cinnamon and the raisins in the recipe. The cherries were particularly delicious.
To get a softer version of this bread, I would shape this into a round, 9-inch focaccia, pressing it into an oiled cake pan. This would be thicker than my rectangular version, but at least equally tasty. Cooking time for a round will be the almost the same, but closer to the higher end of the range.

Dried Fruit Focaccia

1 tbsp yeast
1 cup warm water (110 F)

1 cup dried tart cherries
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp olive oil, more for working dough
2 - 2 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes, until slightly foamy. Add in dried cherries, raisins, salt, cinnamon, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 1/2 cups flour. Stir to combine. Add remaining flour 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes, until fairly smooth and elastic. The fruit may make it difficult to tell when the dough is smooth, so be sure to knead for 3 minutes if you are unsure. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl to rise until doubled and cover with plastic wrap for about 1 1/2 hours.

Oil a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan (baking sheet with sides).
Place risen dough into prepared pan, stretching it into a rectangle as you place it. Oil your hands well, splay your fingers and gently press dough into a thin rectangle, covering most of the sheet. Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for 30 minutes.
Preheat over to 425F.
Brush focaccia gently with a bit more oil and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 1 focaccia

SHF #9: Tempting Bread Tart

This month's SHF theme is Tempting Tarts, hosted by none other than Jarrett, owner of every food blogger's (and food blog fan's) favorite resource.

The idea for this tart came straight out of Baking with Julia. In it, Nancy Silverton offers up a wonderful looking Brioche Tart. Hers is rich dough, filled with a creme fraiche and egg custard and baked. It is then topped with a creamy white wine sauce and poached fruit.

My tart is nowhere near as rich as hers, in no small part because I couldn't be bothered to make a brioche dough. Instead, I used a half batch of my classic white bread and a cream filling. It turned out rather like a custard pizza, but once the fruit compote was added and the juices absorbed, it was very nice. I definately like the idea of using a bread base for a tart because it makes the tart seem so much more substantial. It would be easy to take this type of dessert to a picnic as well. Next time, I think I will slice some apples or stone fruits and lay them in the custard to bake with the tart. A cream cheese filling would go very well here, too. If you're making your own filling, cut down on the sugar. This recipe adds more sugar before baking.
Use something at least as rich as the white bread as a base. I finally updated my brioche recipe and a half batch of the would be perfect.

Cream Filled Bread Tart with Plum and Dried Cherry Compote

1/2 batch classic white bread or brioche dough

1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

1 egg

1 egg white

1/3 -1/2 cup sugar

Butter a 10 inch tart pan.

Let the dough rise once, then roll out into a circle at least 1 inch larger than tart pan. Transfer the dough to tart pan and roll edges over, creating ruffled edge. Or, if you’re like me, simply fold the edge over to create an almost pizza like crust. Let rise again for 45 minutes to 1 hour. You can do this rise overnight in the fridge if you'd like, but let the dough come to room temperature before proceeding.

Beat together the creme fraiche and the egg and set aside.
After the second rise, use your finger tips to dimple the bottom of the tart like a focaccia. Spread the cream filling over the center of the tart. Brush the crust with the lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle the whole thing with sugar. You should use approximately 1 tbsp for the crust and ¼-1/3 cup for sprinkling the pastry cream. The cream will absorb sugar as you sprinkle it, so, if necessary, add a bit more sugar until it ceases to be absorbed by the cream.
Bake in a 375F oven for 35-40 minutes (for white bread)

Bake in a 275F oven for 30-40 minutes (for brioche)

Allow tart to cool down for a few minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature with warm compote, recipe below.

Dried Cherry and Plum Compote

½ cup sugar
½ vanilla bean
6 plums, unpeeled, pitted and cut in sixths
½ cup dried cherries
¼ cup water
1 tsp lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until plums are tender. Remove vanilla bean and serve with tart or over ice cream.