Grape Focaccia

Grape Focaccia

Mmmm.  See the sugar crystals?

I was super stoked when I scored a gallon-sized bag of red grapes from a friend.  Yummy.  But after a few days of eating grapes by the handful, I was ready to try something a little more interesting.  By chance, I came across the idea for grape focaccia on Bryanna Clark Grogan’s blog http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com.  I thought the combo seemed delightfully unusual. 

I love grapes and I love focaccia.  How could it not be delicious?  The fruity notes of the olive oil compliment the warm, sweet punch of the grapes, and don’t forget about the warm, freshly baked flat bread.  It was amazing right out of oven (do your best to give it a few minutes to cool, those grapes are HOT).  I couldn’t stop “sampling” little pieces while I finished dinner.  I served it with Carnival Squash Stuffed with a Lemon-herbed Rice Medley (recipe tomorrow), and the Orange-Glazed beets from Vegan with a Vengeance sprinkled with toasted walnuts.

Bryanna offers a link for a focaccia bread recipe, but I decided to use the tried and true fococcia recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking.  I mixed one teaspoon of sugar in the warm water used to dissolve the yeast and subbed half of the unbleached all-purpose flour for whole wheat pastry flour.  I halved the large grapes and left the small ones whole.  After the last dough rise right before baking, I brushed the focaccia with two tablespoons of olive oil, topped with the grapes, then sprinkled one teaspoon of sugar over the top.  So so good!  Thank you Bryanna for the great idea!