My first focaccia was the cinnamon roll focaccia recipe I saw on Reddit. When I saw how easy it was, I decided to try a regular focaccia recipe (h/t @Lo-Fi_Pioneer for the recipe @ https://www.reddit.com/r/Breadit/s/JL2WoWPmCf).
I used a 9 x 14 pan, which I now realize was too small lol, and all my toppings burned midway through the bake. If I were to do this again, I would probably use a large sheet pan, given the size of the dough. I think maybe I was supposed to press in the toppings? I just laid them gently on top, so when they burned, I was able to just pick them off and eat the focaccia plain. It was still tasty!
Any helpful tips for avoiding burnt toppings in the future are welcome.
by anonymous_redditor_0
16 Comments
I toss the different toppings individually in olive oil before adding them to the top
Mine always do this too, I put a sheet of foil over the top when it’s halfway to done to help with the browning. You just need to check it a bit more frequently!
Woops ,I didn’t tag u/lo-fi_pioneer correctly in the post.
peter reinhart’s book the bread baker’s apprentice sorts focaccia toppings into different categories based on when in the proofing and baking process you should put them on so that they don’t burn:
PRE-PROOF TOPPINGS: Marinated sun-dried tomatoes; olives; roasted garlic; fresh herbs; walnuts, pine nuts, or other nuts; and sautéed mushrooms, red or green peppers, or onions.
PRE-BAKE TOPPINGS (directly before baking): High-moisture cheeses, such as blue cheese, fresh mozzarella, and feta cheese, and cooked ground meat or meat strips. Also coarse salt or sugar.
DURING-BAKE TOPPINGS (last five minutes): Dry or semihard cheeses, such as Parmesan, Romano, regular mozzarella, Jack, Cheddar, and Swiss.
Try pressing the toppings further into the dimples
You can also do 1/2 of your bake time with a baking sheet loosely covering the pan and remove it for the home stretch to brown the top.
Push the toppings further in and make sure they’re covered with oil or just put the toppings through the dough at the beginning
What temp did you bake it? I found at 450 (f) my toppings burned, but not at 400.
Parbake before adding toppings works the best
To avoid burning toppings, make sure they’re probably oiled (with olive oil of course)!
The garlic looks really good
I cheat and push them down a bit and then aluminium foil at the end.
I put rosemary and garlic in my foccacia. I mix them with olive oil and water. The water evaporates and keeps the topping from burning.
Were you using a convection oven? The hot air blowing across the top can burn delicate ingredients.
Everyone else’s comments are super helpful! Just wanted throw in what we do at the bakery I work at – we put another sheet pan face down on top of the foccacia, to act as a lid while we bake it. We take it off during the last few minutes to provide more browning on the top and avoid burning the ingredients. We also oil all our toppings before they go onto the foccacia to help prevent them from drying out!
I appreciate you post. I have never baked this but i wanted to. Your post and the accompanying comments helps booster my confidence in this endeavor