Apple Cider Doughnut Focaccia

Since I moved to Philadelphia, I have been searching for a doughnut that tastes like the yeast doughnuts of my youth, with very little success. Everywhere I look, the offerings seem to be the cakey variety, which I have never particularly liked. Give me a good yeast doughnut, on the other hand, and I can devour an alarming number of them without much encouragement. This is why I avoid Krispy Kreme stores like the plague.

In my world, October requires apple cider doughnuts before it can officially declare itself autumn, and most of the ones I have recently encountered were precisely the cakey sort I don't want. I decided that if I couldn't have my ideal apple cider doughnut, I could at least borrow its flavors and put them into something I make well: focaccia.

This is an adaptation of my Stuffing Focaccia, with reduced, spice-infused apple cider in the dough, little pockets of buttery apple, and a cinnamon sugar finish. It isn't pretending to be a doughnut, it isn’t pretending that it was fried, but it does have yeast, apples, plenty of warm spices, and enough autumn credentials to announce the season officially open.

Makes one focaccia of about ten pieces

2 cups wholewheat flour and 2 cups all-purpose flour or 4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 tsps active dry yeast

1 cup + 2 tsps reduced apple cider, made from a bit more than 2 cups apple cider

1 cinnamon stick or a piece of cassia bark

2 whole cloves

A small piece of whole nutmeg, or a few gratings of fresh nutmeg

2 Tbsps olive oil

2 firm, tart apples (I used Gingergold), cut into small cubes

2 Tbsps + 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3 Tbsps granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt + a pinch

Flaky salt (optional)

Combine a little more than two cups of apple cider with the cinnamon stick or cassia bark, cloves, and nutmeg in a saucepan. Reduction is rarely precise so simmer gently until the cider has reduced to about half; we are looking for one cup plus two teaspoons. Strain out the spices and let the cider cool, then reserve two teaspoons for finishing the focaccia. You will need one cup for the dough.

Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Add one cup of the cooled reduced apple cider and three-quarters of a cup of water and mix until a sticky dough forms. If using half wholewheat flour and half all-purpose flour you will need to add additional liquid to hydrate the flour properly. I needed an additional three tablespoons of water to get the dough to come together while remaining soft and sticky.

Remove the dough hook and pour the olive oil directly into the bowl containing the dough and turn it in the oil to coat. Cover with a damp towel and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, transfer the dough to a 9-by-9-inch baking pan, ensuring that you also tip the oil in the bowl into the pan. Turn the dough over once, making sure that it is coated with oil on both sides, and gently stretch it toward the corners of the pan. If it resists, let it rest for fifteen minutes and try again. Cover and leave at room temperature until the dough is puffy and has spread to fill the pan, which may take two to three hours depending on how cold it was when you started and how cold it is in your kitchen.

While the dough is rising, melt two tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed apples, a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened slightly and most of the liquid has evaporated. You want pieces of apple, not applesauce. Set aside to cool.

If you like treats very sweet, feel free to add a tablespoon of maple syrup or some extra sugar to the apples at this point. Between the concentrated apple cider and the cinnamon sugar on top, I felt that I had added enough sugar for my taste. In fact, I nearly added a squirt of lemon juice to adjust flavoring, but decided against it as I thought it might detract from the buttery richness I was looking for when making this. You may also want to adjust the levels of cinnamon upward. I find that American treats tend to be heavy-handed on the cinnamon for my taste and, since I used it three times here, I erred on the side of caution.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

When the dough is ready, use your fingertips to press deep dimples into it. Distribute the cooled apple pieces over the dough, pressing them gently into the dimples. If there is a little buttery syrup left in the skillet, spoon it over the apples.

At this point in time, you may wish to add a bit of flaky salt to balance the flavors of the focaccia. Again, if you have a sweet tooth, you can skip this step, but I feel it definitely adds to the final result.

Bake for twenty-five to thirty minutes, until the focaccia is golden brown and cooked through. The apples and cider will both encourage browning, so keep an eye on it toward the end.

While the focaccia bakes, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and mix the granulated sugar with the remaining quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

As soon as the focaccia comes out of the oven, brush the exposed bread lightly with the reserved two teaspoons of reduced apple cider, followed by the melted butter. Scatter the cinnamon sugar generously over the top while the butter is still warm.

Let the focaccia cool for a few minutes before cutting into squares.

This is particularly good while still warm, when the cinnamon sugar is clinging to the buttery crust and the little pieces of apple tucked into the bread still retain a bit of residual heat.

I cannot promise this focaccia will satisfy your every craving for a yeast doughnut, let alone for a seasonal apple cider one, but it certainly makes a convincing argument for a long autumn foliage admiring walk once you have eaten a piece, or two. That is what my neighbors and I did when we were done.