Strawberry Cheesecake Focaccia
One of my favorite things to make is anything involving bread dough. If I had to choose a favorite… It’s probably focaccia. It’s just so jiggly! So when thinking of unique plays on this classically delicious bread, I figured: why not combine two beloved desserts into one? Ergo, this strawberry cheesecake focaccia came to be.
Now I like my focaccia thick and fluffy. The two most popular styles of focaccia are the Focaccia Ligure (or Genovese), which is what this recipe is, a thick and fluffy bread, and the Focaccia Pugliese, which is slightly flatter.
The bread itself is typically rich in an olive oil flavor and slightly salty. Making it easily adaptable for a lot of fun flavor variations. If you’re a fan of variety, something sweet AND something savory. Try my 2-in-1 focaccia recipe, half strawberry cheesecake, half tomato pesto!
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STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FOCACCIA
This recipe combines two beloved bakes: strawberry cheesecake and focaccia bread. We’re turning a classically savory bread into dessert for the table with this bake.
You’ll bake off a fluffy focaccia dough for this recipe. I prefer it thick, but also, since we’re stuffing it, we want it to have a lot of height for our jam. Once it’s baked, take a knife and poke holes all along the top of the cooled bread. Place your homemade strawberry jam in a piping bag and fill each hole full of jam. Spread on your cream cheese glaze and voila! A delicious twist on two classic recipes.
What is the stretch and fold technique? Instead of kneading, this is a way of building up the gluten in your bread dough to create a soft, airy texture. Keep the dough in your bowl and looking at it like a clock, scoop up the edge of the dough at noon, lift it, and fold it over until it reaches the 6 o’clock edge. Gently press in, turn your bowl 90 degrees, and repeat until all four sides have been folded up and over.
INGREDIENTS
- Sugar or Honey: Feeds the yeast and helps the dough rise with a slight hint of sweetness. Also sweetens and preserves the jam while helping it thicken
- Active Dry Yeast: Leavens the dough, creating that fluffy, pillowy focaccia crumb.
- Bread Flour: Provides structure and chew
- Salt: Enhances flavor and balances the sweetness of the filling and glaze
- Olive Oil: Adds richness, moisture, and crisp edges, while also preventing sticking during shaping and baking
- Flaky Sea Salt: Finishes the focaccia with a savory, crunchy contrast to the sweet filling.
- Strawberries: Add natural sweetness and a jammy texture.
- Lemon Juice: Brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness, while helping the jam set properly
- Cream Cheese: Adds tangy, rich “cheesecake” flavor to complement the strawberries.
- Powdered Sugar: Sweetens the glaze and gives it a smooth, pourable consistency.
- Milk: Thins the glaze to a spreadable texture
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth and depth to the glaze’s flavor
Why is there so much olive oil in focaccia? Olive oil adds flavor to the focaccia bread. Additionally, adding it to the pan and on top of the dough ahead of baking not only creates a nonstick barrier but also that classic golden crust, helping your dough lightly crisp as it bakes.
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FOCACCIA
Start by activating the yeast: In a small bowl, combine warm water and sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top, and stir gently. Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy. In a large bowl, mix flour and salt, then add the yeast mixture and stir until a dough forms. Lightly oil a large bowl, transfer the dough into the bowl (use oiled fingers to help), cover, and let it rest for 10 minutes. Perform two rounds of stretch and folds, resting 10 minutes between each: lift one side of the dough and fold it over the opposite side, rotating the bowl each time until all four “sides” are folded. Then, do one set of coil folds—gently lift the center of the dough and tuck the top and bottom edges underneath. Drizzle the dough with olive oil, cover tightly, and refrigerate for 15–24 hours.
The next day, pour ¼ cup olive oil into a 9×13” pan and spread it around the base and sides. Remove the dough from the fridge, pop any large bubbles, and transfer it to the pan with oiled fingers. Fold the dough like an envelope, flip seam-side down, and let rest for an hour. Stretch the dough gently to fit the pan, resting another 10 minutes if needed. Let rise uncovered at room temp for 60–90 minutes until puffed and jiggly. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Dimple the dough with oiled fingers, drizzle with more olive oil, and sprinkle with flaky salt. Bake on the lowest oven rack for 20–25 minutes, until golden and it reaches a 190°F internal temperature. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15–20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the strawberry jam: combine strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot over medium-low heat. Cook until boiling, then monitor with a thermometer until it reaches 221°F. Remove from heat, transfer to a heat-safe bowl, and cool before placing in a piping bag. For the cream cheese glaze, mix softened cream cheese with sifted powdered sugar using a spoon, then whisk in milk and vanilla until smooth.
To assemble, use a knife to poke small holes all over the cooled focaccia. Use the piping bag to fill each hole with strawberry jam, then drizzle the cream cheese glaze over the top and spread evenly. Let set for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
3 reasons you’ll love this bread
TIPS & VARIATIONS
- You can swap the strawberries for another fruit – raspberries or blueberries would be delicious! To make this quicker, you can use store-bought jam if preferred.
- You do need a digital scale for this recipe! The ratios for the perfect texture of this bread are important, so weighing your ingredients matters.
- Make sure to use a really large bowl when making this bread dough. As it rises (and it will rise!) you don’t want to restrict it by having the bowl too tight.
STORING YOUR STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FOCACCIA
You can make your homemade strawberry jam up to a month in advance and store it in an airtight jar in the fridge.
Once baked, this bread will last in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Due to the cream cheese in the glaze, it does need to be stored in the fridge. If you’re not going to serve it all at once, you can leave the frosting on the side, stored in the fridge until ready, and keep your focaccia in an airtight container at room temperature.
MORE BREAD RECIPES
If you’re a cinnamon-sugar lover like me, you have to try this Cinnamon Sugar Sweet Potato Pull-Apart Bread. It’s soft, packed with cinnamon flavor, and so fun to pull each piece from the next. For something a little more savory, try these Rosemary Challah Rolls. Filled with all the fresh herby flavors, perfect as is or for sandwiches. If you also hate scooping individual muffins, try my Blueberry Muffin Bread! Bakes all together in one loaf pan with a delicious crumble topping.
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Spatula
- Digital Scale
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Plastic wrap
- 9×13” Nonstick Baking Pan
- Wire Rack
- Food Processor or Blender
- Small pot
- Heat-proof container
- Spoons
- Whisk
- Steak Knife
Ingredients
- 540 g warm water around 110°F
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey
- 7 g active dry yeast
- 600 g bread flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup olive oil plus extra for drizzling
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
- 2 cups frozen whole strawberries see notes for details on fresh
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
DOUGH
- In a small bowl, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and stir gently. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes foamy
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and mix with a spatula or your hands until a dough forms
- Grease a large bowl with room for growth (this dough will rise!), lightly with a little olive oil. Transfer your dough to your bowl – rub a little bit of olive oil on your fingers to help transfer – cover your bowl with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes at room temperature
- After 10 minutes, perform one set of stretch and folds: looking down at your dough in the bowl, imagine it has four sides (like a square versus a circle). Take the top side, gently lift it up, and pull it over the dough down to the bottom side. Rotate your bowl 90 degrees. Now you have a new top side; lift that up, stretch it over down to the new bottom side. Repeat until you’ve done this four times (for all four “sides”). Cover and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Repeat this step again so you’ll have done two sets of stretch and folds. Cover and rest for another 10 minutes
- Lastly, perform one set of coil folds. Again, looking at your dough and imagining four sides, use your pointer and middle fingers of each hand and scoop under the middle of the dough, lifting it gently, and tuck the top side under, towards the middle. Then tuck the bottom side under, towards the middle. Rotate your bowl 90 degrees, and do another coil fold on each top and bottom
- Lightly drizzle the top of your dough with olive oil and gently smooth it over the top – it might be a little sticky, so be careful not to tear it. Cover your bowl airtight with a lid or plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for 15-24 hours
- Pour your ¼ cup of olive oil into a 9×13” pan, using your hand to spread up the sides as needed
- Remove your dough from the fridge. If any large bubbles have formed on the top of your dough, pop them with your fingers. Dip your fingers into the oil in your pan to lightly grease them before gently transferring your dough from the bowl to the baking pan. Fold your dough like an envelope (right side a third of the way in, left side over right), flip and turn your dough so the seam side is down and the longest direction is running along the longest part of the pan. Cover and let rest for one hour at room temperature
- Pull the dough gently to fit the rectangular shape of the pan. Don’t force this; if it’s not pulling, let it rest for 10 minutes and try again. Set aside uncovered at room temperature for an additional 60-90 minutes to finish rising. It will be puffed and jiggly when you gently shake the pan
- Preheat oven to 425°F
- Drizzle your dough with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and use your finger to press deep into the dough, making those traditional focaccia dimples. Then, sprinkle flaky sea salt lightly across the top of your dough
- Bake for 20-25 minutes on the lowest rack in your oven until golden brown. You can insert a digital thermometer into the center of your bread to check for doneness; it should have an internal temperature of 190°F when ready. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool for 15-20 minutes
STRAWBERRY JAM + CREAM CHEESE GLAZE
- For the jam, combine your strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot and place over medium-low heat, stirring regularly. Once the mixture starts to boil, monitor the temperature with a digital thermometer, checking until it reaches 221°F. Immediately remove from the heat and pour into a heat-safe bowl. Allow it to cool to room temperature before placing it in a piping bag. Place in the fridge while your dough bakes
- To make the cream cheese glaze, add your room-temperature cream cheese to a bowl and sift your powdered sugar over it. Use the back of a spoon to spread together the sugar and cream cheese until combined. Whisk in your milk and vanilla until smooth
ASSEMBLY
- Use a steak knife to poke small “holes” into the focaccia every inch or so. Insert the tip of your piping bag filled with strawberry jam and squeeze just until the jam fills the hole, repeating until all holes are filled. Then, pour your cream cheese glaze over your focaccia and spread with a spatula. Allow to set for at least 15 minutes
- Cut your focaccia into squares and enjoy!
