PLUM FOCACCIA - FOCACCIA AUX QUETSCHES

I can never get enough of yeasty treats, tarts and Italian plums. I find such grub irresistible and totally addicting. Those are some of my favorite things, hence the quasi-obsession I have with them. If you put such kinds of food in front of me I'll very likely stuff my face with them. Yes, I am a little "pig" and I am not ashamed of telling you that. Call me little Miss Piggy if you want (LOL Nonetheless, I know when to stop and how to control my diet)...

Well, now has come the Italian plum season and, although it announces the end of summer I am incapable of not rejoicing at the idea of preparing divine pastries with those delightful stone fruits. In my opinion, they are far better than peaches and nectarines (only apricots come close to plums) as they are more exhalirating, flavorful and have a more gorgeous deep purple color.

Italian plums are my most beloved variety of plums. With their slightly tart and almost lemony as well as smoky flavor they are quite different from the common plums that are widely spread and lot less complex as well as delicate taste-wise (not as multilayered in flavor).

Also known as questches or pruneaux in Switzerland (or France), they make me travel back in the past and bring back cherished memories. My Swiss grandparents had many fruit trees around their house and always picked tons of Italian plums. They used them for making "Gâteau Aux Pruneaux" (plum tart) and the rest which could not be eaten straight away was put in the freezer. I can still remember biting into those frozen whole plums and being blown away by their lusciousness. When I visited "Pépé et Mémé" (Nan & Pop in French) during the summer that's what we ate to cool down. That icy treat was fantastic and was even more fulfilling than ice cream.

A while ago, I was leafing through one of my Swiss cookery magazine and saw a recipe for a "Plum Tart" made with brioche dough. Of course, it caught my attention and made me salivate. I absolutely had to make something like that.

The "Italian Plum Focaccia With Cottage Cheese" I created was very much inspired by the one of "Cuisine De Saison". I used a very similar dough base, but instead of topping the plums with crumble I thought that it would be a great idea to use cottage cheese instead. The result was just incredibly scrumptious!

The bread was soothingly sweet, rich and pillowy soft. The combination of cinnamon, plums and cottage cheese was perfect and tasted divine. The focaccia was a really success and did not last long.

This post is submitted to Yeastspotting.

~ Italian Plum & Cottage Cheese Focaccia ~
Recipe by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010

Makes 1 focaccia/for about 4-6 people.

Ingredients For The "Dough":
280g All-purpose flour
25g de Light brown sugar
1 1/2 Tsp Vanilla sugar
1 Tsp Sea salt
100ml Lukewarm milk
1 Tsp Dry yeast or 10 g Fresh yeast
25g Browned butter, at room temperature
1 Egg (63g)
Flour for rolling the dough
Ingredients For The "Filling":
600-700g de Italian plums/quetsches
150g Cottage cheese
50-60g Light brown sugar
1 Tsp Ground cinnamon
2 Tbs Amaretto

Methode:
1. In a bowl mix together the flour, the light brown sugar, the vanilla sugar and the salt. Make a well in the centre of the flour.
2. Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Pour the yeasted milk in the well. Incorporate enough flour in order to obtain a thick paste. Let rest for about 20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly.
4. Add the butter and the egg. Mix well in order to get a ball of dough.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, until it is soft and passes the window pane test.
6. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a humid towel. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
7. Roll the pastry in a 1 cm/0.4 inches thick rectangle and place it on a baking pan covered with baking paper.
8. Cut the plums in half and remove the stone. Place the plums in neat and tigh t rows with the cut part facing up. Sprinkle the cottage cheese over the fruits and then the sugar as well as the cinnamon.
9. Let the dough rise for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F).
10. Sprinkle the Amaretto over the fruits and bake for about 25-30 minutes in the bottom part of the oven.
11. Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking rack.

Remarks:
Depending on how your plums are juicy you might have to bake the focaccia a little while longer so that your bread dough doesn't end up all soggy.
You can also flavor the dough with lemon zest or extract.

Serving suggestions:
Serve as a meal, dessert or teatime treat.
You can eat the focaccia with whipped cream or lemon pastry cream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Prune & Cottage Cheese Focaccia ~
Recette par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010

Donne 1 focaccia/pour 4-6 people.

Ingrédients Pour La "Pâte":
280g de Farine blanche
25g de Sucre brun clair
1 Sachet de Sucre v

anillé
1 CC de Sel de mer
100ml de Lait tiède
1 CC de Levure sèche ou 10 g de levure fraîche
25g de Beurre (non-salé) noisette, à température ambiante
1 Oeuf (63g)
Farine pour abaisser la pâte
Ingrédients Pour La "Garniture":
600-700g de Pruneaux/quetsch

es
150g de Cottage cheese
50-60g de Sucre brun clair
1 CC de Cannelle
2 CS Amaretto

Méthode:

1. Dans un bol, mélanger ensemble la farine, le sucre brun, le sucre vanillé et le sel. Former une fontaine au centre.
2. Délayer la levure dans le lait tiède et laisser reposer pendant 5 minutes.
3. Verser le mélange dans la fontaine et incorporer assez de farine afin d'obtenir une pâte visqueuse. Laisser reposer environ 20 minutes jusqu’à ce que le mélange commence à mousser.
4. Ajouter le beurre et l’oeuf, puis mélanger le tout afin de former une boule de pâte.
5. Pétrir pendant environ 10 minutes afin d'obtenir une pâte lisse et élastique.
6. Mettre la pâte dans un bol huilé, couvrir avec un film plastique et laisser lever pendant 1 heure ou jusqu'à ce que la pâte ait doublé de volume.
7. Abaisser la pâte sur un peu de farine en un rectangle d’env. 1 cm d’épaisseur et la déposer sur une plaque recouverte de papier sulfurisé.
8. Couper les pruneaux en deux, les dénoyauter, puis les répartir bien serrés sur la pâte, face coupée vers le haut. Répartir le cottage cheese sur les quetsches puis saupoudrer le sucre et la cannelle.
9. Laisser lever pendant 30 minutes et préchauffer le four à 200 °C.
10. Saupoudrer les fruits avec l'Amaretto et faire cuire la focaccia pendant environ 25 à 30 minutes dans le bas du four.
11. Retirer et laisser refroidir.

Remarques:
Si vos fruits sont juteux vous devrez sûrement cuire la focaccia un peu plus longtemps afin que la pâte ne soit pas trop détrompée et molle.
Vous pouvez aussi utiliser du zeste ou de l'extrait de citron pour parfumer votre pâte.

Idées de présentation:
Servir cette focaccia comme repas, dessert ou comme gourmandise entre les repas.
Cette focaccia peut être mangée avec de la crème Chantilly ou de la crème patissière au citron.