Sticky Cinnamon, Cardamom & Brown Sugar Focaccia
All the pillowy softness and crisp edges of my classic high-hydration focaccia, layered with a buttery brown-sugar filling spiced generously with cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg.
Ingredients
For the dough
420 g warm water
20 g honey
1 sachet dry yeast
A drizzle of neutral-flavoured oil, such as vegetable or canola oil
500 g 00 bread flour
2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardamom
10 g fine salt
For the cinnamon-cardamom filling
½ cup butter, melted
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
For the tin and topping
Neutral-flavoured oil, generously
Flaky sea salt
Butter, for serving
Equipment
20cm square baking tin
A sturdy oven-safe mug for the water
Method
1. Activate the yeast
Add the warm water and honey to a large mixing bowl. Stir until the honey has completely dissolved.
Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the water. Do not mix it in. Leave it resting on the surface for 5–10 minutes, until frothy and activated.
2. Make the dough
Add 500 g flour, spices and the salt.
Mix only until everything has just combined and no large pockets of dry flour remain. The dough should look loose, messy and extremely sticky.
Cover with a clean tea towel and rest for 15 minutes.
3. Complete the stretch-and-folds
Wet your hands thoroughly.
Take hold of one side of the dough, stretch it gently upwards and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat from the opposite side.
Cover and rest for another 15 minutes.
Complete another two stretch-and-folds, then cover and rest for a further 15 minutes.
Perform one final set of folds. The dough should now feel smoother, stronger and easier to stretch.
4. Let it rise
Cover the bowl and leave it in the warmest part of your house for approximately 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Watch the dough, it may need longer in a cool kitchen.
5. Make the filling
While the dough rises, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg.
Mix until you have a thick, glossy and deeply fragrant paste.
6. Fill and fold the dough
Generously coat the base and sides of the baking tin with neutral oil.
Tip the risen dough into the tin and gently ease it outward with wet or lightly oiled hands.
Spoon over as much of the cinnamon-cardamom filling as your heart considers reasonable, reserving some for the surface.
Gently stretch and fold the dough over itself, trapping ribbons and pockets of the filling inside.
7. Complete the final rise
Cover the tin and leave the focaccia to rise for approximately 20 minutes, until light and puffy.
Meanwhile, preheat a fan-forced oven to 190°C.
8. Dimple and finish
Using oiled fingers, press deep dimples into the dough, taking your fingers almost to the bottom of the tin without tearing through it.
Pour the remaining cinnamon-cardamom filling over the surface, allowing it to collect inside the dimples.
Finish with a light scattering of flaky sea salt.
9. Bake
Place the focaccia in the oven with a mug of hot water beneath or beside it.
Bake at 190°C fan-forced for approximately 20 minutes, or until deeply golden, crisp around the edges and cooked through.
The brown sugar can darken quickly, so keep an eye on it during the final few minutes.
When removed from the tin and tapped underneath, the focaccia should sound hollow.
10. Let it settle
Allow the focaccia to cool out of the tin for 5–10 minutes before slicing. The buttery sugar filling will be exceptionally hot when it first leaves the oven, and this brief rest gives the crumb and sticky layers time to settle.
Serve warm with thick slabs of butter.
Sofia’s Notes
Add the flaky salt even though this is a sweet focaccia. It balances the brown sugar and makes the warm spices taste even better.
For a seasonal variation, add finely grated orange zest to the filling, scatter over chopped toasted pecans or tuck thin slices of ripe pear between the final folds.
