Sourdough Focaccia
Topped with brie, caramelised miso pears & a lightly spiced, brown butter & walnut streusel.
Hi everyone & welcome back to another newsletter exclusive.
This week, we’re making a sourdough focaccia & topping it with melted brie, caramelised miso pears & a spiced streusel made with brown butter & walnuts.
This makes a great lunch dish & the great things is, all of the toppings can be changed to suit you. Don’t like brie? Use a burrata or a goat’s cheese. Want a different flavour streusel? Use hazelnuts instead of walnuts. Change the pears to apples.
You get the idea…
Focaccia is one of my favourite breads to make & I’ve pulled out all the stops for this one.
The Dough.
Using a fairly low percentage of sourdough starter in this focaccia allows the dough time for a longer cold ferment before its’ final rise & bake - 12 hours minimum in the fridge!
Pairing this with a super high level of hydration is the key to achieving a light, airy dough that’s full of flavour.
The downside to this being, that a dough with this much moisture can be quite tricky to work with. Luckily, making the dough is also pretty hands off. Give it a couple of coil folds & you’ll have a cloud-like dough in no time. Plus there’s no shaping involved.
The Toppings.
Whilst developing this recipe, the main difficulty was finding a way to add the toppings to the bread without affecting the focaccia’s final crumb. Because this dough has such a high level of hydration, adding the toppings at the beginning of the bake would cause them to sink into the dough, preventing the best possible rise & causing undercooked sections of dough. Essentially, the toppings were weighing the dough down.
The best way that I found around this, was to bake the focaccia without any toppings (just olive oil) then top with the pear, brie & streusel just before serving - almost like a focaccia pizza/cheese on toast.
The reason behind using a streusel to top this bread is to provide a nutty flavour (thanks to the walnuts & brown butter) that works great alongside the sweetness of the pears. The crunchiness also provides some added texture in an otherwise soft dish.
Caramelising the pears with miso, was another way to tone down some of the sweetness from the pears whilst also adding a subtle savoury flavour.
Now onto the recipe.
Ingredients.
The Dough.
550g Strong White Bread Flour
*I use a Canadian white flour from Shipton Mill
470g Water (25°c)
110g Ripe Sourdough Starter (100% hydration, at its’ peak)
11g Maldon Salt
25g Olive Oil
Pears.
2x Ripe Conference Pear
40g Unsalted Butter
50g Dark Brown Sugar
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp White Miso
1/2 tsp Vanilla Paste
Streusel.
40g Unsalted Butter
45g Demerara Sugar
40g Plain Flour
45g Porridge Oats
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
25g Walnuts
A Pinch Of Maldon Salt
Glaze.
20g Olive Oil
20g Runny Honey
To Serve.
Brie (2-3 slices per portion)
Method.
The Dough.
Add the flour & water to a bowl of a stand mixer then use a dough hook to mix on a low speed until just combined. Leave to autolyse for 1 hour.
Next, add the starter to the dough & mix on a medium speed until fully combined & the dough is starting to come away from the sides of the bowl, 3-4 minutes. Leave at room temperature for another hour.
Add in the salt & olive oil then mix on a medium speed for another 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a large, lightly oiled bowl.
Leave to ferment at room temperature (around 25°c) for a further 3-4 hours, coil folding every 15 minutes for the first hour then every 30 minutes until the dough passes the windowpane test (usually 6/7 folds in total).
Once the dough has risen by roughly 50% & is showing signs of fermentation, cover the bowl with clingfilm & leave in the fridge overnight (at least 12 hours or up to 24).
The next day, oil a 9”x13” tin & line with baking parchment.
Drizzle 1/2 a tbsp of olive oil into the tin then tip in the dough. Gently stretch the dough so that it covers the bottom of the tin (don’t worry too much if it doesn’t completely cover the tin). Leave to rise at room temperature until the dough has double in size, 2-4 hours.
Whilst the dough is proving, prepare the toppings.
Pears.
Peel, quarter & core the pears. Cut each quarter into 3 slices.
In a large frying pan, melt the butter over a medium heat then stir in the miso. Add in the pears, sugar & lemon juice then cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly until the pears start to soften & are nicely caramelised. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla & leave to cool.
Streusel.
Preheat an oven to 180°c.
Brown the butter oven a medium heat then transfer to a mixing bowl & leave to cool slightly.
Stir in the sugar, flour & spices. Once combined, mix in the oats.
Roughly chop the walnuts, stir through the streusel mix then transfer to a lined baking tray & bake in the preheated oven until a light golden brown, roughly 20 minutes. Make sure to stir the streusel every 5 minutes or so.
To Bake.
Turn the oven up to 230°c.
Once the dough has risen, drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil then use your fingers to dimple the dough all over, making sure that the dough reaches all sides of the tin.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a deep golden brown.
Once baked, mix together the honey & oil then brush over the top of the focaccia to glaze.
Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack & leave to cool completely before serving.
To Serve.
Heat a grill to its’ highest setting.
Cut the focaccia into 8 pieces.
Take a piece of bread, cover the top with sliced brie then grill until melted. Transfer to a plate then spoon over 3-4 pieces of pear & sprinkle over spoonful of streusel.
Drizzle with some of the sauce from the pears & serve.
Thanks for reading this week’s exclusive recipe. See you next week!