Gluten Free Sundried Tomato Focaccia by Allinson's

Method

1. Whisk the flour with the xanthan gum and dried yeast. Dissolve the salt in the water and add the cider vinegar, egg white and olive oil. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the liquid ingredients. Beat everything well with a whisk and then squidge and beat with your hands until smooth – a stand mixer with a spatula attachment is great for this. Chop the sundried tomatoes and squish these in too. Set aside for a few minutes while you prepare your tin.

2. Line the bottom of a 25cm square, deep sided tin (or something similar sized) with baking parchment and drizzle some olive oil over the paper.

3. Scoop the soft dough into the tin and spread out using the back of a teaspoon or a wet spatula. Then wet your hands and pat the surface of the dough to smooth it out completely – you may have to re-wet your hands a few times. Dip your fingers into water and press holes in the dough, all the way to the bottom, randomly across the loaf. Wet your fingers again if they start to stick. Drizzle olive oil (or sundried tomato oil) over the surface of the dough, making sure all the holes are filled. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Set aside in a draft free place to rise until the mixture looks puffy (about 90 minutes at room temperature or 45 minutes in a proving drawer).

4. About 20 minutes before proving time is up, preheat the oven to 220°C fan (240C without fan), place a roasting tray on the bottom of the oven to heat up.

5. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with warm water. Carefully place the focaccia in the oven and pour half a cup of boiling water onto the tray in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the temperature down to 200ºC fan (220ºC without fan) for a further 15-20 minutes, until the base is crisp. You can check this by lifting it out of the tin using the baking paper. Cool on a rack and wait to tear or slice it until it is only just warm or the bread will be gummy. Wrap the loaf in parchment or a waxed cloth and slice & freeze anything you won’t eat in 24 hours.