Orange and Cranberry Sweet Focaccia

This Orange and Cranberry Sweet Focaccia is one of those slightly sweet breads which you can have for desserts or with a cup of hot tea or coffee! Super delicious and that hint of sweetness makes them a favorite!

If you are in the mood of something sweet but not really too sweet, this orange and cranberry sweet focaccia is THE thing to make!

I love breads, they are my guilty pleasures. The savory ones to be had with soups and salads, with curries and eggs, the sweet ones to be had with teas and more. I can live on bread and if you want to torture me, the one thing you can take away from me, is bread. They are also one of my favorite things to bake, the kneading, the aromas. Sigh! everything feels all right when there is bread around.

Sweet Focaccias, though not very common, are a delightfully surprisingly tea time treat or light desserts at the end of a hearty meal. Mildly sweet, they are very common in Italy and can be a star of your party table this holiday season.

Focaccia basically have an Italian origin and just like the pizzas, have such varied toppings on them. You can make them savory with a hint of olive oil, cheese and oregano, or just slightly sweet with some berries on top, like this recipe of mine! The biggest appeal for focaccia is that the dough is relatively easy to make. Less kneading and cooks much faster 🙂 When I was reading up about Focaccia, I realised that each part of Italy boasts of a special kind of Focaccia. While the basic recipe remains the same, the toppings do vary significantly. The sweet Focaccia is known to be common in the northern part of Italy.

Make this sweet Focaccia today and enjoy the smell of the freshly baked goodies wafting throughout  your house 🙂

While we are still on Italy, did you check out this super easy one pot meal pasta recipe on the blog?

Orange and Cranberry Sweet Focaccia

Sweet Focaccias, though not very common, are a delightfully surprisingly tea time treats or light desserts at the end of a hearty meal. Mildly sweet, they are very common in Italy and can be a star of your party table this holiday season.

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Prep Time 1 hr

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 2 hrs

Course breads

Cuisine Italian

Servings 10 piece

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup water warm
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp yeast dry active
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup water warm
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsps sugar
• 3 - 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 Oranges , thinly sliced in rounds
• 1/2 cup cranberries Dried
• 1/4 cup cointreau

Instructions

 

• To make the sponge : Place the warm water and sugar in a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and let it stand for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to form a soft dough. Cover tightly with a plastic wrap or a plate and let it stand till bubbly and the quantity is doubled. This should take about 45 minutes
• To make the dough : Whisk the yeast into the warm water in a large mixing bowl, stir in the olive oil and beat in the sponge. If you are making the dough by hand, add the sugar and salt in the mixture and stir in. Now add the flour in three batches and mix well till it starts forming a dough.
• Bring this dough out on a clean kitchen counter and knead well for 10 minutes.
• Alternatively, you can also make the dough using a kitchen-aid (or similar) stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment to mix together the sugar, salt and yeast mixture and 1 cup of flour. When mixed, add the rest of the dough and change to the dough hook and knead for 4-5 minutes
• Place the lightly oiled dough covered with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise till double for about 1 to 1.5 hours.
• While the dough is rising, soak the cranberries in Cointreau (use orange juice if you don't want alcohol) and keep aside.
• When the dough is double, divide it in three equal parts, Using a rolling pin, roll out each of it to a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. You can bake these as free form breads on parchment paper or pizza stone or move them to your round cake tins. Cover the bread for a damp kitchen towel and let it raise for 30 minutes.
• While the bread dough is raising, pre heat the oven to 200C for about 20-25 minutes.
• When the bread is ready for baking, arrange the sliced oranges in a circle and spread the cranberries in the empty places, press both the oranges and cranberries a bit, drizzle the left Cointreau syrup on top.
• Bake the breads for about 15-18 minutes till slightly browned. Serve warm or cold.
• You can store this cling wrapped or in an air tight container for 3 days though its best eaten the same day.
  

Notes

If you make this, share a picture with me on twitter, instagram or Facebook? I would love to hear what you have to say about it !

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