Big & Bubbly Focaccia - Recipe of the Year 2025 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00- Can I just eat it like this?
2. 0:02I'm tempted to. I'm tempted to just eat my way through it.
3. 0:07Hey y'all, it's Martin. I'm here in the studio today
4. 0:10with our whole team and we're so excited to share
5. 0:12with you our recipe of the year.
6. 0:14Big bubbly focaccia, lots of tests, lots of opinions,
7. 0:19lots of bites
8. 0:20of focaccia have been happening at King Arthur headquarters.
9. 0:24And listen, what we've ended up with is something
10. 0:27that is high rising.
11. 0:28It's bubbly, it's packed with olive oil,
12. 0:31it's got coarse salt on top.
13. 0:32You can make a sandwich or you can just bake it
14. 0:35and eat it plain right out of the oven.
15. 0:37The recipe is right down there below.
16. 0:39Come along, let's make it. Okay, so let's do this mix.
17. 0:43In the bowl, about three cups of flour,
18. 0:45which is 360 grams.
19. 0:47I'm using my scale here.
20. 0:48Y'all remember that in baking,
21. 0:51what we wanna maintain are the ratios,
22. 0:53the large relationships between flour and water, right?
23. 0:56And the way that I can do that is by using my scale.
24. 1:00You can also go with cups and teaspoons.
25. 1:02I mean, that's what my mother does
26. 1:03and has done for how many years?
27. 1:05Lots of years. But she's made bread more than most of us.
28. 1:09And so she has that knowledge of experience that sort
29. 1:11of gained knowledge, which allows her to know
30. 1:14what the dough should feel like in our case when we're getting
31. 1:16used to bread making
32. 1:17and making our way into this beautiful journey.
33. 1:19A scale is a great way to ensure that what we want is
34. 1:22what ends up in the bowl.
35. 1:24Okay? Then I'm gonna get some dry ingredients in.
36. 1:26I've got some yeast about three grams, which is a teaspoon.
37. 1:30I've got a little bit of sugar, about five grams,
38. 1:32and then I've got about a teaspoon
39. 1:33and a half of salt, which is about nine grams.
40. 1:37We'll get those in and then I'll give it a little mixy mix.
41. 1:40Just wanna incorporate things.
42. 1:42We don't have to do anything fancy here.
43. 1:43I'm just sort of knocking 'em around in the bowl,
44. 1:46making sure that everybody in there is getting friendly.
45. 1:50And then I've got some water and some olive oil.
46. 1:52Water is 284 grams or about a cup and a quarter,
47. 1:56and I've warmed this water up slightly.
48. 1:58I want this dough to feel coddled.
49. 2:00I want it to feel slightly warm.
50. 2:03That environment is what yeasts love, so don't shock 'em.
51. 2:06Don't put ice water in there, you know,
52. 2:09don't do anything like that.
53. 2:10That would make 'em feel like they don't
54. 2:11want to go to work, right?
55. 2:12We want them to go to work.
56. 2:13And then I've got some olive oil.
57. 2:15Olive oil here is about 18 grams.
58. 2:18Okay, dry ingredients, wet ingredients in the bowl.
59. 2:20You could use your hand if you wanted
60. 2:21at this point. If you have a wooden spoon, I like
61. 2:24to use the handle end, you could use that as well.
62. 2:25Or you could just go in with your scraper,
63. 2:27whatever works for you.
64. 2:29No rules here.
65. 2:30All we want to do is sort of stir to combine to the,
66. 2:35what we would call the incorporation phase.
67. 2:38This is like the mixer sort of portion
68. 2:42of the show. And mixer,
69. 2:43what I mean by that is like
70. 2:44everybody's getting to know each other.
71. 2:46I'm not gonna dump this bowl out on the counter after this, right?
72. 2:49I'm just gonna leave it in the bowl to rise
73. 2:51and I'm gonna use some folding to gather strength.
74. 2:55So you wanna get everything homogenous.
75. 2:58You wanna make sure that there are no dry bits,
76. 3:00the dough looks good.
77. 3:02It's a soft dough.
78. 3:04If you haven't made a focaccia
79. 3:05before, it should be a soft dough.
80. 3:08If it's real firm, something's off.
81. 3:10But again, if you're using that scale to sort of ensure
82. 3:13that your ratios are good, I think you're gonna find
83. 3:15that it's a soft, somewhat sticky dough.
84. 3:18Cover this, we're gonna come back in 15
85. 3:20minutes for the first fold.
86. 3:21You come with me. Okay,
87. 3:25so the dough has had 15 minutes to rest,
88. 3:27and what's happening during that time is that the yeast,
89. 3:30which were dry and in sort of a dormant state,
90. 3:32they're waking up, they feel that warmth, they're ready
91. 3:35to go to work, and the water is getting to know the flour.
92. 3:38It's hydrating and in that process it's developing gluten.
93. 3:42It's not gonna be this big stretchy network yet,
94. 3:44but it will be getting started in a nice way.
95. 3:47So let's see what we got here.
96. 3:49It's not a ton of structure yet, and I'll show you.
97. 3:51Put some of this magic water on
98. 3:52and the dough won't stick to your hands.
99. 3:55So I have a structure which is actually, you know what,
100. 3:58amazingly, so just 15 minutes
101. 4:01and it's already sort of starting
102. 4:03to windowpane a little bit.
103. 4:05It's, I would call it like a soft pane.
104. 4:07If I really stretch it thinly, it's gonna tear some,
105. 4:10but over the course of fermentation,
106. 4:12it's gonna gain further strength due to a couple things.
107. 4:14One, we have a lot of water in the environment.
108. 4:17We've guaranteed that through accurate measurements.
109. 4:19And two, we're using really good flour
110. 4:22and there's just no way around that.
111. 4:23I'm using a very high quality all purpose, beautiful flour.
112. 4:27Now I'm gonna do the first fold. This is a bowl fold.
113. 4:30I'm gonna take my hand slightly moist,
114. 4:32and I'm just gonna go around the bowl stretching
115. 4:35and pressing to the center.
116. 4:37This is sort of an organization,
117. 4:40the dough is already on its way,
118. 4:42and we're gonna sort of help it further begin
119. 4:44to form this stretchy, extensible network,
120. 4:47which will become this beautiful dough in the end.
121. 4:52That's it. First bowl, fold. Done.
122. 4:53We're gonna put the lid back on
123. 4:55and we'll come back shortly to give a second fold.
124. 4:58I don't know why I'm walking over there.
125. 4:59I'm actually gonna leave it right here.
126. 5:00There's, there's no reason to go over there.
127. 5:02I'm just gonna set it right there. Okay. Alright.
128. 5:04So it's been 15 minutes
129. 5:05and we're back for the second bowl fold.
130. 5:07And you know, as I'm folding this, I'm thinking about one
131. 5:11of the beautiful things of this bread is
132. 5:12that you can start it, you know, early in the afternoon
133. 5:15and you can have it done in time for dinner.
134. 5:17It's not a hard bread if you're new to bread making.
135. 5:20If you're new to hearth breads, if you're new
136. 5:21to artisan style breads, it's a great place to start.
137. 5:25Look at what's happening here.
138. 5:27This dough is incredibly
139. 5:29and beautifully extensible, even more
140. 5:32so than it was at the first one.
141. 5:33It's got this sort of elastic quality, right?
142. 5:36Time is working. Just make your way around the bowl.
143. 5:39Stretch, press to the middle. Nothing complicated here.
144. 5:43You'll notice that the dough has just more tension than it
145. 5:45did the first time around.
146. 5:47It's exactly what we want. Leave it in the bowl.
147. 5:50We'll come back in another 15 minutes
148. 5:51and we'll give it another fold.
149. 5:53Alright, so we're back for bowl fold number three,
150. 5:56it's been about 15 minutes.
151. 5:58Don't be too uptight about that.
152. 5:59If it's been 30 minutes, that's okay
153. 6:01too. Just check in with the dough.
154. 6:03That's part of what's going on here is I'm checking
155. 6:05in with the dough.
156. 6:06And what I see is a sort of matrix,
157. 6:09which is getting stronger.
158. 6:11It's getting stretchier, it's starting to feel marshmallowy,
159. 6:15feeling very dough like at this point.
160. 6:18And I'm just gonna work my way around the bowl, stretching
161. 6:21and pressing to the middle.
162. 6:23I like to turn mine upside down after each fold.
163. 6:26You don't have to do that. You can just leave it in the bowl
164. 6:28and sort of forget about it.
165. 6:31But that's it. Bowl fold number three, it's in the books.
166. 6:34And we got another 15 minutes
167. 6:35and we'll come back for number four.
168. 6:37Okay, we're back for the fourth bowl fold.
169. 6:40And this dough continues to sort
170. 6:42of show beautiful signs of life.
171. 6:44It's puffy, it's marshmallowy, it's developing strength.
172. 6:48It's not gonna need a lot from me at this point,
173. 6:50just a little bit more organization.
174. 6:53I'll make my way around the bowl one time.
175. 6:57I'm even seeing some nice bubbles in here.
176. 6:59And then I'm gonna set it to rise for one hour in a nice,
177. 7:03comfortable condition, 70, 75 degrees.
178. 7:06And we'll come back and we'll put it into the pan.
179. 7:08That's it. Goodbye. See you in an hour.
180. 7:10Okay, so we're back after about an hour,
181. 7:13and the dough looks great.
182. 7:14It's almost doubled in size. It's definitely marshmallowy.
183. 7:18It's very active and it's ready to go into the pan.
184. 7:22I'm baking in my nice Lloyd pan.
185. 7:24This thing browns very well.
186. 7:25It takes heat very well,
187. 7:26and it gives heat very well to the focaccia itself.
188. 7:29It's a great pan to use.
189. 7:30You can also use some other pans
190. 7:32and there are those instructions in the recipe.
191. 7:35I'm gonna spray the pan with just a little bit
192. 7:36of pan spray just to ensure that when you go
193. 7:39to remove it from the pan, it comes out very easily.
194. 7:43The other thing that I'm gonna do is I have a sheet
195. 7:46of parchment that I've cut down
196. 7:47to about 16 inches in length, and it's a couple inches wide.
197. 7:50I'm gonna put that in here
198. 7:51to also help you get it out of the pan.
199. 7:54Okay, so I got my strip in there,
200. 7:56and then if you want, you can give it an additional just
201. 7:58little spritz on top of the paper just to make sure
202. 8:00that you save yourself any potential
203. 8:02for trouble down the road.
204. 8:04Now I'm gonna put some olive oil in,
205. 8:05and the olive oil will actually also help keeping it from
206. 8:08adhering to the pan,
207. 8:10but it's also there to sort of enhance the crust
208. 8:15with some deliciousness.
209. 8:19Now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna dump the dough
210. 8:22into the pan.
211. 8:23I'm gonna use my flexible scraper again, just to make sure
212. 8:25that it comes out in sort of one fell swoop.
213. 8:28I'm at that point in the dough making process,
214. 8:30or the bread making process where it's like, don't wake
215. 8:32the baby okay, should come out in one fell swoop.
216. 8:36It looks beautiful. You can see
217. 8:38what will become the structure of this beautiful focaccia.
218. 8:41You can see this sort of airy matrix.
219. 8:45Now I'm gonna flip the dough in the pan.
220. 8:46If you want to get your hands a little bit oiled,
221. 8:49that will help them keep from adhering.
222. 8:52Okay, so I've got it in the pan.
223. 8:54Not terribly graceful, but it's done.
224. 8:56And it's ready for the final rise.
225. 8:59It doesn't quite fill the pan right now,
226. 9:02but over the course of the next rise, about an hour,
227. 9:04it's going to sort of relax
228. 9:06and get into those corners a little bit.
229. 9:07And then we'll be ready to bake during that last hour.
230. 9:10Go ahead and cover it. Put a sheet tray
231. 9:11on top or something else.
232. 9:13If you have a bowl cover, that would work as well.
233. 9:14And put it in a nice, comfortable place
234. 9:16to rise while it rises.
235. 9:18You're gonna want to get your oven preheated
236. 9:20and everything else set for the bake.
237. 9:24Woo. Look at that.
238. 9:26You know, I should, we should pause here for a second
239. 9:30because it's kind of miraculous what happens over the space
240. 9:32of just a couple of hours, right?
241. 9:34This dough, which began as this sort of loose mass,
242. 9:37somewhat sticky, kind of not much happening,
243. 9:40has transformed into this matrix of light air-filled dough.
244. 9:44It's beautiful, it's high, it's bubbly, it's pillowy,
245. 9:48it's marshmallowy, it's ready for the oven.
246. 9:50So let me show you what we're gonna do next.
247. 9:52It's just the dimple.
248. 9:53So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna get some olive oil on my
249. 9:56fingers, and then I'm going to gently press,
250. 9:59I'm going all the way to the bottom of the pan,
251. 10:01but not necessarily through the dough.
252. 10:04And I'm just moving it into the corners a little bit,
253. 10:07working my way down.
254. 10:08And this is gonna give us that classic sort of cobbled,
255. 10:11dimpled, focaccia look.
256. 10:13Okay, so olive oil on your hands. And then I'm gonna go in.
257. 10:18I'm not too aggressive here, right?
258. 10:20If you feel like your fingers are sticking at all, go back
259. 10:22and get some more olive oil.
260. 10:24I'm not being super aggressive
261. 10:26because we've worked hard
262. 10:27to get this beautiful structure into the dough.
263. 10:30We want it big and bubbly.
264. 10:33Now my finger marks look like they're
265. 10:35pretty well distributed.
266. 10:37If you see an area where there's like not a dimple, go back
267. 10:39and just with one finger, you can sort of add a little bit.
268. 10:43But I think we're good. I'm gonna leave it right there.
269. 10:45Now I'm gonna top it. And what do we need?
270. 10:47Well, we need a little bit more olive oil.
271. 10:50So tablespoon right on top,
272. 10:51get it into those nooks and crannies.
273. 10:54Is it gonna look like a lot? I mean,
274. 10:55it looks like a little bit,
275. 10:57but trust me, that as it makes, it'll sort of be absorbed
276. 11:01and it'll give the surface this nice shine and aroma.
277. 11:05Incredible, incredible flavor.
278. 11:07And now it's time for a little bit of salt.
279. 11:10I'm using a coarse, big flaked salt from Curio Spice Company,
280. 11:14one of my favorite places to get good spices.
281. 11:17I'm gonna put some in my hand so I can sort
282. 11:19of distribute it in a way which feels somewhat even, right?
283. 11:23And then there is an amount here.
284. 11:27You know, it's a garnish, add to taste,
285. 11:31and I'm just making sure that it's distributed.
286. 11:33The salt's gonna add this additional textural sort of point.
287. 11:38Beautiful, crunchy.
288. 11:39You'll come across those crystals as you take a bite, and
289. 11:42before you know it, that focaccia will be gone.
290. 11:44So the focaccia is ready to go in the oven.
291. 11:46My oven is nice and hot. It's 475.
292. 11:48You know when that thing dings that it's hot.
293. 11:50It may not necessarily be hot. Give it some extra time.
294. 11:53Make sure that the oven is fully preheated.
295. 11:56We want this to meet maximum heat
296. 11:58and jump as high as possible.
297. 12:00That's what's gonna give us this beautiful crispness
298. 12:02and the open structure.
299. 12:03Okay, I've got a rack in the lower third.
300. 12:05We're gonna put it in there. We're gonna bake it
301. 12:0715 to 18 minutes.
302. 12:18That's the sound of awesome bread right there.
303. 12:22Look at that guy. Woo. She's hot.
304. 12:28Okay, so I like the amount of color here.
305. 12:30I have some dark spots, I have some lighter spots.
306. 12:33I'm gonna put it back in the oven
307. 12:34for additional five minutes with the oven off.
308. 12:37What I want to do in that time period is draw a little bit
309. 12:39of additional moisture out
310. 12:40and make sure that I have a crust which is crispy
311. 12:43and crunchy.
312. 12:44If you don't have as much color as you want,
313. 12:46you can put it on an upper rack
314. 12:48and you can use your broil setting
315. 12:50to add a little bit more color.
316. 12:51Just don't walk away from the oven,
317. 12:53you will burn it, trust me.
318. 12:55Okay, so back into the oven.
319. 12:56In my case, I've got the color I want
320. 12:58and I'm just gonna leave in here for five more minutes
321. 13:00to dry out, to crisp up to get ready for me to enjoy.
322. 13:10Okay. Alright. The focaccia is out. It's beautiful.
323. 13:14Even from this far away, I can smell the bake.
324. 13:16I can smell how that olive oil has almost fried that crust
325. 13:20where it met the pan, the bottom color is incredible.
326. 13:24That's all flavor. Don't go less than that.
327. 13:27You can see how the olive oil almost like smoothed it out
328. 13:31and shined it up.
329. 13:32It's beautiful. It's down in the cracks and crannies.
330. 13:35The salt is crisp and crunchy on top. I'm ready to slice it.
331. 13:39I think that's enough talking. Focaccia is one of those things.
332. 13:42I let it cool a little bit,
333. 13:43but it didn't sit around for too long, right?
334. 13:45I want to taste this
335. 13:47and you can do the same, you know, beautiful crunch,
336. 13:50beautiful crumb, nice and open, glossy on the top and sides.
337. 13:55Crunchy. If I compress it, let's have a taste.
338. 14:01It's a ton of flavor.
339. 14:02You wouldn't necessarily think that a bread of
340. 14:05that quality could be made in such a short period of time.
341. 14:09Beautifully crisp, beautifully tender, big bubbly focaccia.
342. 14:13It's our recipe of the year y'all. Thanks for coming along.
343. 14:16This is the whole gang at King Arthur Baking Company
344. 14:18saying thanks for joining us.
345. 14:19Happy baking.