Darshana Thacker Wendel
Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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Comments (11)
This yielded a batter not a dough. I had to add a lot more flour to get it into a workable state. I read the other comments and cooked it at 425F instead. It turned out OK but I don’t think I’ll make it again.
I also found the ratio of water to flour/cornmeal a little much and had to add flour to make it workable. Also had the same issue with the temp at 475, most of the sun dried tomatoes burned. I did like the crunchy bottom and flavor of the bread.
This recipe reads as though there are 2 cups of water for 3 cups of flours. This is how I made the dough which was extremely runny. It didn’t seem right so I added multiple tablespoons of flour until I achieved a sticky dough. It would help to confirm water vs. flour amounts as I don’t think it’s right. Hopefully it bakes well at this point!
Also, 475 was too hot. I had to turn down the heat after the toppings started burning. I can’t tell that any other focaccia recipe calls for this high of heat. It was more pizza-like than the light spongey texture I hoped for. All in all, this ended up being a disaster for me. 🙂 But the flavor with cornmeal was nice. I would have loved it to look like the picture.
I have date syrup. Can I use that instead of paste?
We made this recipe today and it turned out great! I used sprouted spelt flour and I think the addition of corn meal and corn starch (used it instead of potato starch) made the dough very tasty! For the toppings I cooked the onions with soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and vegan Worcestershire sauce and the kids ate the first round of onions all by itself 😉 we had to cook another round for the bread! All and all, made for a great meal
We are inspired and going to make it!
What can i use instead of date paate?
I made this last night, so tasty!
I did make a few changes.
I used white flour for the sponge but substituted spelt flour for the rest. I added a tbsp of olive oil to the mixture and used a bit less water.
Why do you use the word sponge???
Frances, that is what it is called when making bread. Although there are different ways to make a “sponge”, this way allows the yeast to proof or expand prior to mixing it with the rest of the flour. I am making this recipe now with a few substitutions. One area I am questioning is the amount of water it is calling for. I will let you know after I make this if it turns out and if it does I will write the substitutions that I have made.