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22 février 2017
This blood orange and rosemary sweet focaccia was the right occasion for me to realise my first recipe with blood oranges, and well probably already the last one of the season. I’m used to eat blood oranges in freshly pressed juices when I need my extra dose of morning vitamins, however I’ve never been addicted to recipes made with orange peels or candied oranges, even though I’m the kind of person who orange blossom water everything. Excepting that, I’m absolutely not a difficult person. I knew already that the blood orange and rosemary match would be a win, but I didn’t know what I should expect concerning the texture, then I would encourage you to slice your blood oranges very thinly, so that they are just thick enough to stay firm and juicy after baking, but don’t get hard to chew or too bitter because of the skin.
If it would be a tiny bit healthier, I think I could easily live from bread and baked things all day long. I can already feel the French cliché coming over, like “but it’s normal, you’re French” as I hear it on a regular basis since I’m living abroad. Even though I’m a fervent addict to cheese, bread and wine kind of things, baguette has never been in my top list, and as crazy as it sounds, I’m actually the happiest person when there is some german or finnish bread around. On a side-note, as apparently it’s nowadays unbelievable to meet French girls who don’t fall for a baguette, I had an entire debate about this topic with an italian guy last year, which finally ended-up to the conclusion that either I was lying about my origins, or just lying about my culinary tastes. I didn’t have any fight with him, but the idea of knocking him out in the face his a german loaf of bread is still pretty satisfying.
On the other hand, focaccia as well as fougasse are among my top-breads-in-universe that I could eat all summer long when I go back to south of France. One bite of focaccia dipped in some freshly made tapenade while hearing the sounds of cicadas is like being in apéro heaven. Focaccially speaking, I still succeeded to find my happiness at Sironi in Berlin’s Markthalle neun, where who can take a bath of fat and flavours thanks to their tasty focaccia kept warm under a creamy gorgonzola blanket or some caramelized onions. They also sell some sweet focaccia that I’ve never had the bravery to try yet.
My blood orange and rosemary sweet focaccia is going perfectly with a cup of tea, and even sweeter while eaten warm while contemplating Berlin shitty weather by the window. Choose a strong honey to bring even more flavours to the recipe, and feel free to place some slices in the freezer for later.
If you’re looking for a savoury focaccia recipe, check out my focaccia & tapenade recipe!
Ingredients
- 500g flour
- 30cl lukewarm water
- 5cl olive oil
- 7g yeast
- 2tbsp honey
- One pinch of salt
- A few sprigs of rosemary
- 2 blood oranges
- 2cl olive oil
- 2cl water
- 1tbsp honey
- A few sprigs of rosemary
Instructions
- 1. Prepare the focaccia dough: let foam yeast into lukewarm water. When yeast is foamed, add flour, olive oil, a pinch of salt, honey and a few minced sprigs of rosemary.
- 2. Knead the dough for a few minutes until it gets elastic but not sticky. Shape a ball and slightly brush it with olive oil. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Put the dough on a baking tray covered with a baking sheet. Spread it gently, in order to get a focaccia of 1-2cm in thickness. Let rest for 20 minutes again.
- 3. Prepare the topping: rince blood oranges and slice them thinly (about 5mm thickness maximum). Stir olive oil, water, honey and rosemary sprigs together to get a syrup.
- 4. Preheat oven to 200C. When focaccia dough blew again, make some holes in it with your thumbs or the back of a teaspoon. Pour half of the syrup over the holes.
- 5. Arrange blood orange slices homogeneously on the focaccia, while pushing well to integrate them into the dough - you can also put them on the holes, hence their integration will be easier. Pour the remaining syrup over the focaccia. Sprinkle with some more rosemary sprigs if you wish.
- 5. Put in oven for 20 minutes. The focaccia is ready when it gets a nice golden colour. Cut the blood orange focaccia in square or rectangular portions. Eat warm or cold.
