Sourdough is such a huge part of our lives. I currently bake weekly for my family and friends. I love to bake. There is a lot of joy to be found in baking for others. I would definitely say its my love language. Today I want to share a new sourdough recipe on the blog. This raspberry focaccia sourdough bread with cream cheese glaze is such an incredible take on my original sourdough focaccia.

It has been a long winter and with the days gradually getting longer, the weather warming, I was in need of something spring inspired. I remembered I had another giant bag of raspberries from our last harvest and decided to create a new sweet treat using our favorite sourdough bread recipe.

This is the perfectly sweet take on sourdough focaccia bread. This raspberry sourdough focaccia bread is sweet and tangy with juicy raspberries throughout and a decadent cream cheese icing drizzled on top.

My sourdough focaccia bread recipe is one of my most popular to sell, it is also quite easy to make. I like to mix up the dough before bed, do a few stretch and folds and then let it sit overnight. By the next day it is ready. I then place it in a pan in the morning, do our finish proof and bake it off with all sorts of yummy toppings.

Let me tell you, raspberry and cream cheese icing is one of the best toppings yet!

My focaccia sourdough bread recipe makes the most luscious, airy and flavorful bread. The addition of the tangy, decadent raspberries and the creamy, sweet cream cheese glaze is practically heavenly!

By baking it in my cast iron skillet, it gets a nice crispy, chewy crust that works so well with the raspberries and frosting. The texture is perfection.

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The only thing that may make this even more indulgent is to add chocolate to it. Now that I can imagine would be heavenly.

For this specific sourdough focaccia recipe today, I do not use extra virgin olive oil, like I do when making a loaf with savory ingredients like garlic, thyme, oregano, olives, cherry tomatoes and fresh rosemary.

I use butter. Butter gives this a rich and flavorful but that works much better with the sweetness of the ingredients.

A few tips and tricks about this easy sourdough focaccia recipe

Tips & Tricks

Let it raise in the pan until almost doubled. You should see big bubbles forming it he dough.
Do not pop those bubbles when dimpling the dough. How do you dimple the dough? After adding oil or butter to the bread, spread it around and gently press your fingers int the dough adding dimples. This is where all the yummy fillings end up.
Make sure to oil your baking dish with either olive oil, butter, or nonstick spray. I find if I use cast iron, butter works great. I use nonstick spray on glass pans.
You can mix this in a stand mixer, but it does not take much time to mix up so I find it easier to mix by hand.

This raspberry focaccia sourdough bread is such a hit whenever I make it. It is sweet and tart with the raspberries and the perfect compliment to the texture of the focaccia bread.

Easy Sourdough Focaccia Bread Recipe

This is the perfectly sweet take on sourdough focaccia bread. This raspberry sourdough focaccia bread is sweet and tangy with juicy raspberries throughout and a decadent cream cheese icing drizzled on top.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 25

Resting & Fermenting Time 12

Course Appetizer, bread, Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Servings servings

Ingredients

100 grams active sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups water (plus 3 tbsp) also 400g
3 tbsp honey
2 tsp sea salt
4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup melted butter or avocado oil for the bread ( you can use less or more as needed)
2 cup frozen or fresh raspberries

Frosting

4 oz softened cream cheese
2 tbsp softened butter
2-4 tbsp milk this will depend on how thin or thick you want your frosting. More milk will create a thinner glaze like frosting. We prefer slightly thicker
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

First, you need to get a large mixing bowl. It can be plastic or glass but not metal. Metal can react to the starter. I like to use a glass bowl and transfer it all into my proofing container with a lid when its time for its bulk fermentation.
Take your sourdough starter and water and mix them in the bowl(it does not need to be warm water). I like to use a digital scale to measure these out. Once they are combined, add your honey, salt and bread flour(you can use all purpose flour but i prefer bred flour). Mix this until it is well combined. I like to use my danish dough whisk but you can use a wooden spoon. At a certain point it will become easier to mix it with your hands, and this is exactly what I do.
Once it is combined well, cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes. After about 30 minutes, you want to do your first knead. With wet hands, take the dough from one of the sides of the bowl, lift it, and fold it over the dough. Repeat this, rotating the bowl and raising the dough and laying it across itself. I do this to all sides and then let it rest. This should be a very wet dough. If it is tough, add a bit more water to it. Only 1 tablespoon at a time.
Its time to let the wild yeast do its thing. You can let it sit at room temperature to let it bulk ferment, but if I have time I will make sure to repeat the kneading process a couple more times. If I make it in the evening, I have plenty of time to do this since there is not a lot of active work, it only takes about 10 minutes of my evening to get my dough going.
If you want to bake your bread the next morning I would recommend leaving it out on your counter at room temperature, covered.
If you want to wait and bake it the next evening, I would put your dough in the fridge to allow the yeast to slow down overnight. I have woken up to dough that has burst the lid and it spilling over the side of the bowl. If you choose this route, you simply need to take the dough out a couple hours prior to baking
So for ease with these instructions, I will be going with the first option which is what I usually do(bulk fermenting on the counter overnight). With either option you want to cover bowl with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out.
In the morning, the dough should have at least doubled in size, mine often quadruples in size. This is from the longer fermentation process. This long rise is what will give your bread its amazing flavor.
Pour the dough onto an oiled counter. take a handful of raspberries and sprinkle them on the top of the dough. Fold the dough over itself in half.
PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 425 DEGREES F.
Pour half of your butter into the bottom of your pan. I prefer to use a dutch oven skillet for this. You can divide the dough in half and make two if you are using a smaller cast iron skillet(it gives an amazing crust to the bread. If you are using a 9 by 13 baking pan or larger cast iron skillet, you can use the entire amount of dough. Transfer dough carefully in the sheet pan and gently pull it so that it starts to fill the pan. You do not to stress about it too much because it will spread and once we poke those holes in it, it will fill the entire pan.
At this point I like to cover the pan with a towel and let the dough rise once again until it doubles its original size. This can take about 30 minutes to 2 hours. It will totally depend on how active your starter was as well as how warm your room is.
Once it has doubled in size, pour the rest of the butter over the top of the dough and spread it over it all. Now sprinkle the rest of your raspberries onto the dough and using your fingers, gently press into the bread dimpling it. You can press the raspberries gently into the dough as well.
Put the bread in the hot oven and bake on the middle shelf for about 20-25 minutes. You are looking for a nice golden brown color on the top and the bottom will be nice and crispy.
While the bread is baking, make your frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese together and add the vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk. Once it is thoroughly mixed together, set it aside.
When it is done, take the focaccia out of the oven. Drizzle or spread your frosting over the raspberry bread while it is hot. It will help it to absorb into the bread and that is always a good thing.
Store in an airtight container.