Schiacciata con l'uva is the Tuscan grape harvest bread—a sweet, oil-enriched flatbread studded with wine grapes that appears exclusively during the vendemmia (grape harvest) in September and October, marking the agricultural calendar with a bread that tastes of the season itself. The preparation sandwiches a layer of wine grapes between two layers of a sweetened bread dough, creating a flat cake where the grapes burst and release their juice during baking, dyeing the dough purple-red and infusing it with an intense, winy, jammy flavour. The dough is a sweetened version of schiacciata (Tuscan flatbread): flour, water, olive oil, yeast, sugar, and sometimes a splash of vin santo. The grapes must be wine grapes—specifically Canaiolo or Sangiovese—whose small, seedy, thick-skinned, intensely flavoured berries bear no resemblance to table grapes and provide the bitter-sweet, tannic quality that defines the bread. Table grapes are too watery and sweet, producing an entirely different and inferior result. The assembly layers half the dough in an oiled pan, scatters half the grapes over it (pressing them gently into the dough), lays the second half of dough on top, and scatters the remaining grapes on the surface, pushing them in slightly. A generous drizzle of olive oil and a scatter of sugar finishes the top. Baking at moderate heat allows the grapes to burst and caramelize, their juice soaking into the bread while the skins char slightly. The finished schiacciata is a sticky, fragrant, purple-stained bread that captures the essence of the Tuscan harvest—sweet from the grapes and sugar, fruity from the olive oil, and with a tannic bite from the grape skins and seeds that provides complexity.
Use wine grapes (Canaiolo, Sangiovese)—not table grapes. Sandwich grapes between two layers of sweetened dough. Press grapes gently into the dough. Generous olive oil on top. Bake until grapes burst and caramelize. Strictly seasonal—September/October.
Remove the larger grape stems but leave small ones attached—they add rustic character. A sprinkle of rosemary on top is a Chianti variation. The bread is best eaten the day it's baked. A splash of vin santo in the dough adds another layer of grape-derived flavour.
Using table grapes (too sweet and watery). Not pressing grapes into dough (they roll off). Under-baking (grapes need to burst and caramelize). Making outside grape harvest season. Insufficient olive oil.
Carol Field, The Italian Baker; Giuliano Bugialli, The Fine Art of Italian Cooking