This Tuscan grape bread is usually only found in the month of September, a tradition governed by the very seasonal nature of grapes in Italy, and one that also has an extremely close tie with the wine harvest in the fall. These days, it is usually made with fragrant, berry-like concord grapes but sometimes you'll still find it made with native Tuscan wine grapes known as canaiolo. <br /> <br />There are rarely adaptions made to the traditional Tuscan recipe, but often you can find the addition of aniseed – a typical Tuscan flavouring. <br /> <br />Avoid using table grapes or white grapes for this, they just don’t do it justice in terms of flavour or appearance. If you can’t get good, sweet wine or concord grapes or it’s the wrong season, try this with blueberries. It’s completely unorthodox, of course, but it’s a delicious substitute and you get a much closer result than using table grapes. <br /> <br />A sprinkling of raw sugar over the top before baking is usually sufficient as it's not too sweet, but confectioner's sugar dusted over the top once completely cool can add a bit more sweetness and visual appeal.

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