Concord Grape And Apricot Focaccia

The most difficult part of making this was seeding all those grapes which while tedious, wasn't all that hard. Like yesterday's rolls, this recipe uses a preferment but one with a much higher moisture content.

You Will Need:

For the preferment:

4 cups bread flour
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Enough water to make a very wet, almost soupy dough.

Mix preferment and cover. Let sit at room temperature overnight.

Next day:

Add to the preferment:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
Enough flour (about 3 cups) to make an elastic, but not sticky dough.

Let dough rise until doubled in bulk. While it rises, prepare the topping:

2 large sprigs rosemary, pulled from stems
1/2 cup dried apricots, halved and soaked in hot water until plump-then drained
1 cup Concord Grapes, seeds removed

After first rise, fold dough and let rest ten minutes. Oil a baking sheet and roll out dough, placing on sheet. You may need another sheet atop it with a weight to keep it stretched. After about ten minutes you should be able to remove it without trouble. The dough will shrink back a bit, but that's fine. Top with fruit and let rise again until nearly doubled. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Upon placing bread in oven, reduce heat to 400 degrees F. Set timer for ten minutes. Rotate pan and bake another ten. At this point, you'll need to keep an eye on it-mine went another six minutes, but it can burn quickly if you don't watch it.

Cool on rack.