Come home and unwind whilst making this beautiful focaccia, your stress will soon disappear as you smell the delicious aroma when it bakes.
Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 1hour 20minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
What you’ll need:
- 1 orange, rind only, pared away in strips with a vegetable peeler
- 1 lemon, rind only, pared away in strips with a vegetable peeler
- 75g (3oz) caster sugar
- 500g (1lb 2oz) strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 40g (11/2oz) butter, diced
- 3 teaspoons fast action dried yeast
- 1 egg, beaten
- 250-300ml (8-10 fl oz) warm milk and water mixed
- 150g (5oz) blueberries
- Extra flour and semolina (optional) for shaping
What to do:
1. Finely chop the fruit rinds and mix with half the sugar.
2. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon and butter to a large bowl and rub in the butter with fingertips until it resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the chopped fruit rinds and sugar mix then the yeast.
3. Add the egg to the flour then gradually mix in enough warm milk and water to mix the flour to a soft dough, you may have a little liquid left. Knead for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Sprinkle the work surface with extra flour and semolina, if using, then gradually knead in the blueberries and remaining sugar, twisting and pulling the bread until they have all been mixed in and trying not to overwork so that the blueberries don’t get too mashed up. Pull into an oval shaped loaf about 23cm (9 inches) long and put on to a floured baking sheet. Cover with oiled clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for about 45-60 minutes until the dough is well risen. While the bread rises, preheat the oven to 220oC/425oF/Gas Mark 7.
5. Remove the clingfilm, sprinkle the bread with a little extra flour then bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and the base of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack and serve while still warm.