Thermomix – Experiment 2, Focaccia

by | Jan 19, 2011 | Food | 6 comments

I baked bread: three words I never thought would come out of my mouth. But I did it; I baked bread. Even more incredulous is that I did it two days in a row.
The Thermomix makes it pretty easy. No flour flying around, no messed up measuring spoons or cups, no kneading until your arms go numb. Just weigh the ingredients directly in the TM bowl, turn the machine to “knead” for five minutes, sit back and have a glass of wine and contemplate life for a while. Admire your clean kitchen.

Turn the dough out into a bowl, cover and let double in size. Plop it onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with fresh herbs (or whatever you want…sundried tomatoes, olives, etc), drizzle with oil and put it in a 350 oven for about 25 minutes. Have another glass of wine.
Before you know it, presto change-oh: delicious fresh baked focaccia.

 

I didn’t let the dough rise enough on my first try, but my second batch (pictured below) turned out much better. Still not as good as Valerie’s, but I’ll get there!

So much better than store-bought and best of all, I did it myself! You have no idea what an accomplishment that is for me. Unfortunately, now, my family is expecting this every day. I think I’ve created a monster.

And thanks to Jess for asking for the recipe, I’ve posted it now below but remember, this is for use in a Thermomix, otherwise it won’t make sense 🙂
In Thermomix mixing bowl:

Weigh approx 40 g hard cheese ( i.e. parmesan, asiago, piave vecchio)
Grate on Turbo setting for 3 seconds (pulse three times at 1 second intervals)
Set cheese aside

In Thermomix mixing bowl:
Measure 230 g water, add 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tsp dry yeast. Set time to 30 seconds, set temp to 37 degrees C and turn to Speed 3.

Once mixed, add 1 tsp salt, set to scale mode and add: 350 g all purpose flour, grated cheese, 20 g olive oil. Set timer for 2 minutes and push “knead” button. Add freshly chopped herbs (a few tbsp of whatever herbs you want) after 1 minute.

Place dough into a bowl, cover, set aside in the warmest corner of your house and proof until doubled in size.

Place the dough onto a baking sheet (I use a silpat liner beneath the dough), spread the dough into a nice/rustic shape and then push some holes all around with your finger to make indents. Pour olive oil all over – enough to fill all the holes and more. Be generous! Sprinkle coarse sea salt over the bread and more fresh herbs if you want.

Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes and leave in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

6 Comments

  1. Jess
    Jess on January 19, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Wow, that looks delicious! Do you happen to have that focaccia recipe lying around or the name of the cookbook it came from?

  2. Twyla Campbell
    Twyla Campbell on January 19, 2011 at 11:49 pm

    Jess…I got the recipe from Valerie (https://www.acanadianfoodie.com/)…I think there’s a little glitch on her recipe site right now because I couldnt access it. Give me a minute and I’ll post the focaccia recipe as soon as I can get it typed up!

  3. A Canadian Foodie
    A Canadian Foodie on January 20, 2011 at 4:29 am

    Twyla!!! YOu are one fast CHICKIE! I didn’t think you would even GET to posting and really using the machine properly so fast. Kudos to you! I am in awe. The focaccia looks exactly like mine, me thinks. We used 50g parm and I almost always add (as I did when you were there) sage, flat leafed parsley and rosemary.No monster created. Teach your kids how to use the scale and THEY can make their own bread. Isn’t it wonderful? I am so happy you are experiencing success with it!
    🙂
    valerie

  4. Twyla Campbell
    Twyla Campbell on January 20, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    Valerie…you’re right. I’ll have to have a session with the kids. I think I’ll start them on smoothies though – they could LIVE off those things! In fact, I made the banana/mango one yesterday and they loved it. Oh, the possibilities!

  5. Colleen
    Colleen on February 28, 2011 at 2:26 am

    Try brioche dough in the thermomix. I have the australian thermomix cookbook and make the brioche dough into cinnamon buns. It is good!

  6. Twyla Campbell
    Twyla Campbell on March 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    I LOVE brioche…I just purchased the Thermomix, yay! I can’t wait to try this! Thanks, Colleen.