Cast Iron Focaccia
With breadmaking, making a focacch is probably the easiest thing to do. It only takes a few ingredients and time (24+ hours). In any case, it’s still pretty cool to be able to make your own bread from scratch.
The end result is a buttery/nutty flavor with a nice crispy crust.
Make this bread and bring it to parties. I promise you everyone will get full off this appetizer (especially if paired with meat and cheese).
Ingredients
- 360g warm water (86ºF) + 20g for step 3
- 10g sugar
- 25g olive oil + ¼ cup
- 450g bread flour (12.7% protein)
- 4g yeast
- 12g kosher salt
Steps
- Combine water, sugar, olive oil, and flour into a bowl. Stir with a spoon until it gets sticky, then continue to lightly knead with hand
- Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes
- Add 20g of water, yeast, and salt and mix together with a really wet hand
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes
- Perform four strength building folds and slap along the side of the bowl (to help shape the dough)
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes
- Do the fold and slaps
- Cover and throw it in the fridge for 4-24 hours (the longer, the better)
- Place the dough into an oiled 12″ cast iron pan
- With oiled fingers, stretch the dough to the edges of the pan
- Cover and let rest for 1:15 hours
- Drizzle oil on top of the dough and dimple with oiled fingers
- Cover and let rest for 1 hour
- Sprinkle salt on top (fresh rosemary optional) and bake at 500ºF for 15-18 minutes
- Remove from cast iron and let cool on a wire rack (to prevent soggy bottoms) and then brush oil from cast iron on top of the bread
- Boomski.
Notes
- This recipe is for a 12″ cast iron pan. If you try the exact recipe in a 10″, the center will be undercooked.
- Invest in some maldon salt for step 14. Better flavor and seeing giant crystals on the finished product is sexy
- When trying this for the first time, check the bread at 15 minutes and keep and eye on it every 1-2 minutes. You want a nice darker (read: not burnt) color
- Shoutout to Brian Lagerstrom’s recipe