Airy 00 Focaccia with a Custard-Soft Crumb (Poolish + Bassinage)
Total flour 512 g • Hydration ~90% (bassinage) • 12 h poolish + 24 h cold ferment • Built for a custardy, ultra-tender, wide-open crumb.
✦ Jump to recipeTotal flour 512 g • Hydration ~90% (bassinage) • 12 h poolish + 24 h cold ferment • Built for a custardy, ultra-tender, wide-open crumb.
This is the indulgent version: maximum water, worked in gradually, over a shorter cold ferment so the fragile 00 gluten stays intact through to the bake. Aim for a melting, custard-like interior with huge glassy holes; tender and lacy, handle it like it is alive and trying to run. If chewy is your thing try our Bread Flour Poolish recipe for the Chewiest Crumb.
Airy 00 Focaccia with a Custard-Soft Crumb (Poolish + Bassinage)
A 90% hydration Caputo 00 build with a 12-hour poolish, gradual bassinage, and a 24-hour cold ferment for a tender, custardy crumb.
Ingredients
Poolish
- 150 g Caputo Blue 00
- 150 g Water (room temp)
- 0.4 g Instant yeast - a pinch (~1/8 tsp)
Final dough
- 300 g, All of the poolish
- 362 g Caputo Blue 00
- 300 g Water, base - mix in first
- 60 g Water, bassinage - held back, added during folds (see method bellow)
- 11 g kosher salt
- 3.5 g Instant yeast ~1 tsp
- 20 g Honey
- Olive oil ~4 tbsp: pan + finishing
- Flaky salt - to finish
Instructions
- 1
Mix base
Whisk yeast, honey, and the 300 g base water into the poolish until loosened. Add flour and salt; mix with a spatula to a shaggy, very sticky, slack dough. It will look wet and rough, but ensure no chunks of flour persist. Cover, rest 20 min.
- 2
Bassinage (work in the extra water)
Over the first 2 folds, add the reserved 60 g water in two ~30 g additions. Wet your hand, pinch and fold the water into the dough until fully absorbed before the next addition. Don't rush. Dumping it in gives a puddle that won't come together.
- 3
Folds (first ~2 h)
Do 4 gentle sets, roughly 30 min apart (the first 2 carry the bassinage). Wet a hand, lift an edge, stretch up and fold to center, rotate, 4× per set. Stay light. You want to coax the structure, dont knead. The dough will smooth and gain a little body but stay very slack.
- 4
Cold ferment
Cover tightly; refrigerate 24 h. Expect an active rise; 00 plus the poolish, ferments enthusiastically. The short cold time protects the fragile gluten from breaking down at this hydration.
- 5
Pan & proof (watch closely, ~2.5–3.5 h)
Oil the pan generously (butter first then oil if you want). Scrape the dough in, fold loosely over itself, turn to coat. Cover; bring to room temp until bubbled, and jiggly but still holding a dome. High hydration over-proofs fast. Start your bake before it looks flat or slumping.
- 6
Bake
Preheat your oven to 475°F. Drizzle the dough with oil, dimple gently but fully to the pan with oiled fingertips, scatter flaky salt on top before you bake. Bake 22–26 min, checking at the 2o min mark; the extra honey browns fast. Pull when you reach a deep golden crust. Cool on a rack so the bottom stays crisp.
Tips
- Mixing: This will be one of the wettest, most delicate doughs you make. Keep hands, bench, and bowl-edge wet and move with intent, hesitation is when it sticks and tares the gluten.
- Mixing: Bassinage is the whole game: 83% first, then the last 60 g worked in over the early folds. This hydration is too high to add all the water up front.
- Mixing: Resist adding flour to tame the stickiness. Let the folds and the fridge build what structure this dough can hold.
- Baking: Maximum bubbles for the win: The poolish gas production plus 00 extensibility along with the ~90% water gives those beautiful enormous, glassy, custard-walled holes.
- Baking: The honey will deepen crust color quickly. So start checking at around 20 min and pull at the first signs of that deep gold to avoid over-browning and ruining that dreamy custardy interior.
- Baking: A well-oiled pan and full preheat matter more than ever! The crisp fried bottom is the textural counterpoint to the soft crumb.
FAQ
- What kind of flavor can I expect from this focaccia?
- Soft, milky-sweet 00 lifted by nutty, aromatic poolish depth; the extra honey comes through as gentle warmth and a bronzed crust, not overt sweetness.
- What sets this dough apart?
- The goal is the crumb, custardy and melting inside, wide open and lacy, with a tender rather than chewy bite and a crackly, oil-crisped base.
- What makes this dough so tricky?
- At 90% the bake can flatten quickly if the structure gives out or it over-proofs. This dough trades reliability and chew for tenderness and openness by design.