No-Knead Beet Focaccia Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why is my focaccia not fluffy? ›

Not allowing the focaccia to proof long enough in the fridge will prevent enough gluten from being formed. This causes flat and dense focaccia once baked.

Oven temperature: If the oven is too cold, it can lead to dense bread as it doesn't heat the gases in the dough enough to make them expand and rise. Preheat the oven and don't leave the door open too long when placing focaccia inside. This ensures the oven is nice and hot.

WATER: Moisture, in the form of warm water, is needed to activate the yeast and hydrate the dough so the gluten can develop. Because focaccia dough isn't kneaded with a traditional kneading process, this dough relies on a higher hydration level.

This bread doesn't need to prove after you have placed it in the tin. It can be baked straight away. However, if it fits better with your day you can leave it to prove for 15-30 minutes or you could pop it in the fridge overnight or for several hours and then bake when you are ready.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Use your favorite kind—I prefer extra virgin olive oil. Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: I tested this focaccia with both and prefer the bread flour variety. Both are great, but bread flour has a higher protein content so it yields a chewier texture.

This dough will be very, very wet – almost like cake mix. If you can, wet your hands (to stop them sticking) and fold the dough over a little, just to see what a dough of this wetness (or 'hydration') feels like.

Transfer to the pan - The dough is transferred to an oiled pan and spread out slightly, and placed in a warm place. Rise focaccia in the pan - The dough rises a second time, uncovered, until doubled in size, puffy, and jiggly. This rising time depends on whether you started with room temperature or cold dough.

The longer you allow the dough to rise, the more air and spongy the bread will be.

Focaccia: The two focaccias were very different. The one made with bread flour was taller, airier, had much more open bubbles in the crumb, and browned nicely. In the mixer, the all-purpose dough never seemed to come together as a cohesive whole in the same way as the bread flour dough.

Which Caputo flour is best for focaccia? ›

Some of the best recipes in Australia using Caputo Chef Red “00” Pizza Flour include classic pizza dough, focaccia with herbs, and calzone with ricotta and spinach.

The first way to check is to simply poke the dough with your finger. If the dough bounces back without sticking to your finger, it's been kneaded enough. If it doesn't, you need to keep kneading.

This focaccia is at its best when perfectly-proofed. You'll know it's ready through dimpling: when dimpled, the dimples should stay and the dough should be bubbly. If the dimples bounce back too quickly, or you aren't getting good sized bubbles, let the dough proof for longer.

Bake the focaccia until it's light golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the focaccia from the oven, and immediately turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Enjoy focaccia hot from the oven, or warm; focaccia is best the same day it's made.

Tip #1: Use the Right Flour

For soft and fluffy bread, I recommend using bread flour. This type of flour has a higher protein content, which will help your bread rise better and have a lighter texture. If you don't have bread flour on hand, you can also use all-purpose flour, but your bread may not be quite as fluffy.

Water: This type of focaccia has a higher hydration, meaning the ratio of water to flour is quite high. The high hydration level gives the bread a moist and spongy texture.