This Strawberry Lemonade Sourdough Focaccia is infused with strawberry lemonade and juicy strawberries, layered with a strawberry jam filling, and finished with a sweet, lemony glaze.
In a bowl or straight edge container, mix together the strawberry lemonade, lemon zest, active starter, and salt until the starter is dissolved with a dough whisk. Add the bread flour and mix until a shaggy dough is formed. Let sit in a warm spot covered for about 30 minutes.400 grams strawberry lemonade, zest of 1 lemon, 150 grams active sourdough starter, 10 grams salt, 500 grams bread flour
Perform 2-3 sets of stretch and folds to develop the gluten in the dough with at least a 30 minute rest in between each set. Add the diced strawberries during the first set of stretch and folds. To stretch and fold the dough, grab one side with a damp hand and gently shimmy the dough up, and then fold it on itself. Repeat this 3 more times rotating the bowl 90 degrees each time.80 grams diced strawberries
Continue to let the dough rise for bulk fermentation until it is risen 50% and is jiggly with bubbles forming around the sides of the bowl. With dough in the mid 70’s F, the first rise will take about 5 hours from the time it is mixed.
Add 2 Tablespoons of melted butter in a greased 9×13 pan and add the focaccia dough. Coat both sides with butter. Spread out the dough and then spread the jam on top of the dough and then fold the dough in half.140 grams strawberry jam
Let it rise another hour or two covered in a warm spot until it has risen well and is puffy.
Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter and add on top of the dough. Dimple the dough with your fingers and bake in the oven at 425°F degrees for 27-30 minutes.
While the focaccia is baking, whisk together powdered sugar and strawberry lemonade to make the glaze. If your glaze is too thick add another Tablespoon of strawberry lemonade. 120 grams powdered sugar, 30 grams strawberry lemonade
After the focaccia has finished baking, add it to a cooling rack and let it cool for a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
I used Simply Lemonade with Strawberry, but you can use whatever brand or flavor of lemonade you would like.
If you are using frozen strawberries, let them thaw completely before adding to the dough. You could also substitute for freeze-dried strawberries.
Make sure to let the dough get puffy and rise fully. Baking it too early will result in a denser focaccia.
To speed up the process, find a warmer spot for the dough to rise. Using warm ingredients in the dough will help with this as well.
To bake the next day, let it finish the first rise and then prepare it in the 9x13 inch pan. Let it sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to begin rising and then place it in the fridge covered. In the morning remove it from the fridge. If it is puffy and well risen, dimple it and bake straight from the fridge. If it has not risen much let it sit out for until it has puffed up and then bake.
Add the dough to a straight edge container so you can easily see when the dough has risen 50%.