Earl’s Stuffed Focaccia With Cheeses & Dried Fruit Recipe

Instructions

Dough

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Brush 2large pizza trays with oil and set aside
3. Sift flour into bowl, add salt, sugar & yeast
4. Make a well in centre, pour in oil & water and mix with wooden spoon
5. Transfer mixture to floured surface, knead for 10mins until elastic
6. Place into oiled bowl, cover with cling film & allow to rise for 1hour
7. Once risen divide the dough into 2equal pieces, leaving a small amount aside to decorate

Onion & cheese filling

1. Slice onions & garlic, fry in pan with 3tbsp. olive oil until slightly brown, ground pepper corns
2. Add peppers, thyme, salt, pepper & dried chillies. Set aside to cool
3. Roll one piece of dough into a rectangular shape
4. Spread out filling onto dough including most of the cheese then roll into a sausage shape
5. Roll the sausage shape into a spiral & stick remaining cheese between the spirals
6. Roll a small amount felt over dough into a long thing sausage & place along the centre of the spiral
7. Shape dough into leaves & place on top give a vine effect
8. Paint leaves with green food colouring
9. Paint vine branch with brown* food colouring
10. Add rosemary leaves
11. Brush with melted butter or olive oil & allow to proof for 35minutes in a warm place
12. Bake for 25minutes in 180°C oven
13. Glaze with melted butter as the bread comes out the oven

Dried fruit filling

1. Chop up dried fruit & set aside
2. Roll out dough set aside for decoration into a rectangular shape then sprinkle fruit, drizzle honey & dust with cinnamon
3. Sprinkle lemon zest & castor sugar
4. Roll the dough into a sausage shape & seal the edges
5. Plait some of the remaining dough into a rope shape & make oval shapes with the rest
6. Place oval shapes along the top to decorate the plait, score the rope to give it texture
7. Sprinkle poppy seeds between scoring marks to enhance texture or rope
8. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the oval shapes to enhance the texture
9. Using a fine pointed artists’ paint brush, paint the marking with brown food colouring to enhance the rope (Finely mix orange & blue food colouring to get brown)
10. Before baking allow 30minutes to rise, then bake
11. Place into the preheated oven for 25minutes