Fruited Focaccia with Plums, Cherries and Lemon Thyme

by Ruby Bhogal, featured in One Bake Two Ways

Published by Pavilion Books

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Introduction

This one is for my mum. I spent years of my childhood standing by her side in the kitchen when I was growing up. She leans more towards the savoury side of life, and when she does eat something sweet, chocolate does not float her boat. I know, right, like how are we even related? The mystery remains unsolved.

So, I’ve taken something inherently savoury and teamed the flavour of olive oil with a heady mix of stone fruit and lemon thyme. The combination may seem unusual, but drown a piece in icing sugar and it’s like a more sophisticated version of a tea cake.

If the fruit listed overleaf doesn’t tickle your pickle, swap them out for whatever does. My fruited focaccia is a real all-year-round belly-pleaser, so mix up the fruit as the seasons change and continue to reap the delicious rewards as the months go by.

As featured in

One Bake Two Ways

Image of Ruby Bhogal's Fruited Focaccia — Photo by Matt Russell

Ingredients

Serves: 6-8

FOR THE DOUGH

500 grams strong white bread flour (sifted)
12 grams sea salt
30 grams demerara sugar
12 grams fast-action dried yeast
4 lemon thyme sprigs (leaves only)
45 millilitres olive oil (plus extra for greasing)
350 millilitres cool water

FOR THE FRUIT TOPPING

3 plums (stoned and sliced)
250 grams cherries (stoned and sliced)
4 - 5 lemon thyme sprigs (leaves only)
50 millilitres olive oil
40 grams demerara sugar

TO FINISH

icing sugar (for dusting)

Method

Fruited Focaccia with Plums, Cherries and Lemon Thyme is a guest recipe by Ruby Bhogal so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

You will need a deep 18 x 24cm / 7 x 9½ inch dish, generously oiled.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and sugar to one side, and the yeast and lemon thyme leaves to the other. Add the olive oil and three-quarters of the water to the bowl, using your hand to stir and turn the mixture. Slowly add the remaining water, a bit at a time, until the sides of the bowl are clean of flour. You may need less or more water, but we are looking for a very soft, wetter than normal bread dough, so don’t be shy!
Keep mixing with your hand until it forms a rough dough. Leave to sit for 5 minutes for the flour to hydrate.
You can use a stand mixer for the next step, however, I have always hand-kneaded this dough with great results. Yes, it is messy, but it is also weirdly therapeutic and satisfying. If you choose to do that, use some oil to coat the worktop lightly and then tip the dough onto it and begin to knead.
Knead for 7–10 minutes until you have worked through the wet stage and the dough begins to soften and become elasticated. Do not add more flour, even if you think it is very wet — trust the process!
If you do want to save yourself the mess, pop the dough into the bowl of a stand mixer, attach the dough hook and mix for 8 minutes on low– medium speed.
Transfer the dough into the prepared dish, cover with clingfilm or a tea towel and leave to prove in a warm environment or proving drawer for 2–3 hours (the longer the better). You could, alternatively, go for a slow prove overnight in the fridge.
Once the initial prove is complete, gently fold the top half of the dough over the bottom half. Turn the dough 90 degrees, before repeating. Gently stretch out the dough to cover the base of the dish, cover and prove again for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas mark 7.
Add the plums and cherries to a bowl and use either a potato masher or the base of a flatbottomed glass to lightly squash them, releasing lots of juice and gently breaking down the fruit. Add the lemon thyme leaves to the bowl. Pour in the olive oil and mix well, coating all the fruit and incorporating the citrussy notes from the lemon thyme.
Once the second prove has completed, use the tips of your fingers to make dimples in the focaccia, pressing them all the way through the dough to the bottom. Try not to disturb any large air bubbles formed in the dough; these bubbles are exactly what we are after.
Gently drizzle the fruit topping over the dough, then sprinkle over the demerara sugar to finish.
Place the tray into the oven and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown on top and cooked through (you are after an internal temperature of 92°C/198°F or higher). Leave it to sit in the dish for 30 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, dust over a generous sprinkling of icing sugar, if you prefer it on the sweeter side of life. Trust me, there’s no such thing as too much icing sugar on this one, so go to town.
All that’s left to do is dunk it into tea, slather it with some butter or eat it as it is. Enjoy.