I really hope you love this recipe for savory grape bread as much as I do. It had never occurred to me to put grapes in bread, and let me tell you, it was a revelation in the best way.
Consider serving this not-too-sweet bread with a smear of plum chutney or bacon jam.
You may also enjoy this lovely lemon-herb focaccia recipe. And for ease of browsing, you can find all my bread and roll recipes in one place. Thanks for being here!
I must admit I was a bit Iffy about this month’s Bread Bakers’ Theme. It had never occurred to me to put grapes in bread. Raisins? Yes. Currants? Sure. Even Craisins. But shoving big old grapes into bread just seemed odd to me. Turns out, there’s a long tradition of using grapes and grape products (wine, juice) in bread. Just scroll to the end of this post to see all the other amazing breads our bakers made utilizing grapes.
Savory Grape Bread
I found a great base recipe for a Savory Grape Bread by Rose Prince, and from there, I used The Flavor Bible to round out the flavors. You can read more about how to pair flavors in my post on the subject.
Under “Grapes,” I found lemon, goat cheese and salt among myriad other likely pairings, and this bread was born. It’s soft on the inside, bright with lemon zest, juicy with grapes (which, it turns out, are delicious in bread) and savory with both the goat cheese and the salt.
It’s a very quick bread to put together, even. Quick for yeast bread, that is. You could certainly stretch things out by using less yeast, letting the dough rise at a cooler temperature and/or letting it rest in the fridge overnight. All of these techniques would boost the flavor of the dough, but there is already so much flavor going on here that it is completely your call whether this bread is ready in about four hours or in two or even three days.
If you think putting grapes in bread is odd, I encourage you to give this a shot anyway. Or give any of this month’s breads a shot. I have certainly changed my mind, and maybe you will too.
Here’s a quick instagram shot of the inside of the bread. I used four grapes per roll. Next time, I’ll probably use eight.
Come See All the Grape Goodness!
Beaujolais Bread from Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story
And now, without further ado, here is my recipe for savory grape bread with lemon zest and goat cheese. I really hope you love it, and feel free to use more grapes than I did!
Savory Grape Bread with Lemon, Goat Cheese and Sea Salt
I used The Flavor Bible to build the flavor profile of this bread. You can make the bread very simply by leaving out my additions of lemon zest, goat cheese and a sprinkle of Fleur de Sel on top. The flavors do work together beautifully, though, so if you have the time and some goat cheese lying about, do give it a try!
175gwhole milk, warmed to about 110-120F (it will feel very warm but not hot)
175gwater, warmed to about 110-120F (ditto)
1Tablespoonwhite grape juice*(you can buy white grape juice, but I just mashed about 8 of my grapes and strained the liquid, measuring 1 Tablespoon)
2Tablespoonsextra virgin olive oil, plus more for your work surface, hands and for drizzling on top
40-80grapes(I used black seedless. Use what you like, but make sure they're seedless), depending on how many grapes you want in your bread.
5-6ozgoat cheese, crumbled
Fleur de sel or other coarse sea salt of your choice for sprinkling the rolls before baking
Instructions
In the bowl of your stand mixer, whisk together the flour, salt and yeast.
Add the lemon zest, all the liquid and the 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
Using the dough hook on low speed, mix for about a minute, until the dough starts to come together.
Cover the bowl and let rest for about 20-30 minutes.**
Mix another two minutes, cover and let rest an additional 20-30 minutes.**
Knead on medium speed for 8 minutes. The dough should clear the bottom of the bowl, but it will be very sticky. You will most likely need to oil your hands to work with it.
Here it is: Oil your hands and form the dough into a ball, drawing the top fairly taut.
Plop it back in the mixer bowl and cover with a lint-free towel. Put in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
Lightly oil your work surface. This will prevent you from tossing in a whole bunch of extra flour and ending up with dry bread. You're welcome.
Preheat your oven to 475F. Place a rack in the center of the oven and put a baking stone on it if you have one.
Lightly oil 2 baking sheets (or line with parchment). Set aside.
Scrape the dough out onto the oiled surface and pull into a more or less regular square or rectangle shape. Be fairly gentle. You don't need (or want) to press out the gases for this bread.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, pulling the top fairly taut while trying not to squish out too much air.
Set the dough balls on an oiled tray. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until they are just about doubled, about 30 minutes.
One at time, gently stretch each dough ball out into a long oval shape, again trying to be gentle.
On half of the oval, place 2 to 4 grapes. Really press them down into the dough. Sprinkle on some crumbled goat cheese.
Fold the the other half of the oval up over the grapes and cheese, covering them completely.
Press 2-4 more grapes into the top of the dough and a bit more goat cheese.
Drizzle with maybe 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil and sprinkle on just a bit of the coarse salt.
Set aside on one of your two prepared trays.
When you have five on a tray, you can go ahead and put that tray in the oven right on top of your baking stone so those guys will be baking while you finish making the other five. Bake for 7 minutes. Rotate the tray and bake for 7 more minutes.
Remove from the oven and scoop them off the pan with a spatula to let them cool on a rack.
*You don't have to bother with the grape juice if you don't want. I just thought the yeast might enjoy a bit of grape sugar. Just increase the water or the milk by 1 Tablespoon, roll your eyes and me, and keep going.**You do not have to give the dough the rest periods, or autolyze, but it can be helpful. Here's a good explanation of why.
Thank you so much for spending some time with me, and with all the Bread Bakers, today. Have you ever had grape bread, or had a bread that sounded odd until you tried it and decided it was delicious? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Have a lovely day.
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23 Comments
OMG, that sounds AMAZING! I did a post that had the same flavors, but the grapes were honey roasted. If your bread is anything like this “grilled cheese” then I’m going to have to make it soon. Check it out! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/207869339023358205/
Normally I wouldn’t be interested in trying grapes baked into bread but you always peak my curiosity. Thank you for sharing the flavor combo with us too! I hope you’re having a good week. 🙂
Hey, hey, doubter! I am glad you kept going because these guys are gorgeous! I especially love that shot with the sweet purple juice dripping out. Swoon!
I must admit I was a bit Iffy about this month’s Bread Bakers’ Theme. It had never occurred to me to put grapes in bread. Raisins? Yes. Currants? Sure. Even Craisins. But shoving big old grapes into bread just seemed odd to me. Turns out, there’s a long tradition of using grapes and grape products (wine, juice) in bread. Just scroll to the end of this post to see all the other amazing breads our bakers made utilizing grapes.
It’s a very quick bread to put together, even. Quick for yeast bread, that is. You could certainly stretch things out by using less yeast, letting the dough rise at a cooler temperature and/or letting it rest in the fridge overnight. All of these techniques would boost the flavor of the dough, but there is already so much flavor going on here that it is completely your call whether this bread is ready in about four hours or in two or even three days.
If you think putting grapes in bread is odd, I encourage you to give this a shot anyway. Or give any of this month’s breads a shot. I have certainly changed my mind, and maybe you will too.
Here’s a quick instagram shot of the inside of the bread. I used four grapes per roll. Next time, I’ll probably use eight.
Thank you so much for spending some time with me, and with all the Bread Bakers, today. Have you ever had grape bread, or had a bread that sounded odd until you tried it and decided it was delicious? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Have a lovely day.
It’s a very quick bread to put together, even. Quick for yeast bread, that is. You could certainly stretch things out by using less yeast, letting the dough rise at a cooler temperature and/or letting it rest in the fridge overnight. All of these techniques would boost the flavor of the dough, but there is already so much flavor going on here that it is completely your call whether this bread is ready in about four hours or in two or even three days.
If you think putting grapes in bread is odd, I encourage you to give this a shot anyway. Or give any of this month’s breads a shot. I have certainly changed my mind, and maybe you will too.
Here’s a quick instagram shot of the inside of the bread. I used four grapes per roll. Next time, I’ll probably use eight.
OMG, that sounds AMAZING! I did a post that had the same flavors, but the grapes were honey roasted. If your bread is anything like this “grilled cheese” then I’m going to have to make it soon. Check it out! http://www.pinterest.com/pin/207869339023358205/
Oooh, I like the idea of honey roasting, Anne! I’ll go check out that link now!
Golden brown bread filled with grapes, lemon, and goat cheese? Sign me up!
Consider yourself signed up, Hezzi-D!
Jennie, what a wonderful little pieces of bread, I adore goat cheese.
Me too, Kathia! Cheese is one of my favorite things, and goat cheese is just about my favorite cheese!
yummmy 🙂
Thanks, Carola! It was pretty delicious!
Lemons? Goat cheese? You’ve got me. No doubt about it, I’ve GOT to try this. Beautiful!
Oh, I hope you do try it, Robin! So delicious, and for a yeast bread, it comes together pretty quickly! 🙂
This is a meal to me! Oh yeah!
Totally worked as breakfast for me yesterday, and probably again today, Cindy! =)
Wow, Jenni, just stunning!! The flavor combination sounds amazing. The photos are beautiful. Isn’t it fun trying something you would not usually try?
It really is, Karen! I am really happy I made these guys–I love groups like Bread Bakers where you get to stretch yourself and try new things. 🙂
Ohhh, this looks right up my alley. I love goat cheese and lemon in bread. 😀 Great post!
Not only does this bread look good, it has such great flavors. Swoon! Yes, that’t the feeling!
I will tread you some of this for some of your naan, Ansh! =)
Normally I wouldn’t be interested in trying grapes baked into bread but you always peak my curiosity. Thank you for sharing the flavor combo with us too! I hope you’re having a good week. 🙂
Yeah–weird, right? But so good (especially heated and with extra goat cheese spread on top)! I am having a good week; I hope you are too, Dionne!
That whole basket would be mine – all mine!! Oh heavenly goat cheese. And then the sweet grapes is a total bonus.
It’s a really great combo that I sort of can’t stop eating, Renee!
Hey, hey, doubter! I am glad you kept going because these guys are gorgeous! I especially love that shot with the sweet purple juice dripping out. Swoon!
They did turn out pretty swoony. I’m glad I went ahead and went for it too, because now I can happily munch. Until they’re gone… =)