Sweet Focaccia with Nutella® is soft, fluffy and lightly crisp on the outside. Baked until golden, then topped with Nutella® for a simple yet indulgent dessert or sweet snack.
Ingredients
500g type “0” flour (12.5% protein – we recommend Caputo Nuvola), plus extra to dust bench
7g instant dry yeast
60g caster sugar
1 jumbo egg (70g), lightly beaten
110g full cream milk, warm
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Finely grated peel of 1 orange
60g butter, softened to room temperature
8g fine sea salt
40g sunflower oil
24g demerara sugar
(Optional) Stracciatella, thinly sliced fresh pear, toasted hazelnuts, to serve 150g Nutella®, to serve
Method
In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour, yeast and sugar with 110g room temperature water. Stir to combine then add egg and milk. Attach a dough hook to the mixer and mix on low setting until the dough comes together.
Add vanilla and orange peel, continue to mix on the lowest setting for 7-8 mins until the dough is smooth.
Add 1 tbsp of the butter and increase speed of the mixer to the next speed higher. Mix until the butter is incorporated then add salt and remaining butter and knead until combined.
Transfer dough to a lightly dusted, clean work bench. Roll into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and rest for 10 mins.
Use clean fingers to flatten the dough into a square, then fold the top corners into the centre and the bottom corners over the top of that.
Lightly grease a glass bowl with sunflower oil and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, place somewhere warm (around 26ºC is ideal) and prove for 1 hour.
Brush a 9x13 inch rectangular pan with the remaining oil. Flatten the dough into a rectangular shape using a rolling pin to roll dough out to the rough size of the pan.
Gently transfer to the pan, pushing the dough into the edges so that the entire pan is covered. Cover with plastic wrap and prove for a further hour.
Sprinkle the dough surface with a little extra flour then use fingertips to dimple the surface of the focaccia all over.
Pour 100ml room temperature water into the centre of the dough and tilt the pan so that the water flows into the dimples. Prove, uncovered, for a further hour and a half.
Preheat a conventional oven to 180ºC. Sprinkle the surface of the focaccia dough with demerara sugar then transfer to the preheated oven, on the lowest shelf, and bake for 20 mins until golden.
Allow focaccia to cool slightly then cut into 10 portions.
Spread with stracciatella and top with sliced pear, toasted hazelnuts and dollop 1 tbsp Nutella to serve.
