Flat grape bread

6 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
7½ gram Fresh yeast or 3.5g; (1/8 oz) dried yeast
; (1/4 oz)
125 millilitres Warm water; (4 fl oz)
1 tablespoon Olive oil
½ teaspoon Salt
270 grams Plain flour; (7oz)
Flour for rolling
750 grams Small black grapes; (11/2 lb)
2 tablespoons Clear honey
90 millilitres Red wine; (3 fl oz)

Directions

1. If using dried yeast, leave it to dissolve in the warm water for about 10 minutes.

2. Put the yeast water or warm water and fresh yeast in a large bowl with the oil and salt and mix together.

3. Gradually add the flour, stirring it in with a fork or wooden spoon until the mixture forms a soft but not sticky dough. Knead well for about 5 minutes.

4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, divide it in two and roll out each piece until it is no more than 1cm (½ inch) thick, shaping it to fit into a greased, shallow, round cake tin measuring about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter, or a rectangular tin measuring about 30cm (12 inches) in diameter, or a rectangular tin measuring about 23 x 36cm (9 x 14 inches).

5. Line the tin with one piece of dough and cover it completely with a single layer of half the grapes.

6. Put the honey and wine in a small saucepan and heat gently until the honey has melted.

7. Trickle half over the grapes, then place the remaining piece of dough on top, pressing it down well to exclude any air.

8. Cover with the remaining grapes, leaving a border around the edge of about 2cm (¾ inch) and trickle over the remaining honey and wine.

9. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 15 minutes.

10. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/200øC/400øF.

11. Bake the bread in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the grapes are soft and the crust crispy.

Converted by MC_Buster.

NOTES : This flat bread was a favourite sweet of the Etruscans. It was made to celebrate the grape harvest and is still much sought after in the bakers'' shops of Florence at that time of year. Try to find juicy black grapes to use in this recipe, the smaller the better; do not use seedless grapes, as the seeds provide a crunchy contrast to the soft juicy bread. If you use medium-size grapes, you may need to bake the bread for a little longer to cook them.

Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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