Daring Baker's Challenge: Pizza!!

From top left, clockwise: Asiago and Mozzarella Pizza (cooked), Hand-tossed Pizza Dough, Uncooked Asiago and Mozzarella Pizza and Provolone, Garlic, Tomato Basil Pizza

Who doesn't like pizza? It is a food loved by many, especially me and my family. When my three boys (that would include the Marine) found out that this month's challenge was pizza they were very excited. I heard one of them mumble, "Well, at least it's not crackers." Not that they have anything against crackers, just that they love pizza.

And, when it comes to pizza keeping it simple is what makes us all smile, so that is just what I did. I kept it simple, choosing more traditional toppings. I made a white pizza, too, but it didn't make it long enough to be photographed. It was the first one made and it was sitting around too long...too much temptation for the boys...oh, ok, I took the first slice!

Typical me, I made these pizzas about 10 days ago on my son's birthday and am a day late posting my challenge! But, it was a fun time making them, trying to hand toss and mostly eating them. (Here's a tip: Don't try to hand toss when your nails are long!) Unfortunately, I don't have any wonderful photos of me tossing pizza dough (darn).

Many thanks to Rosa at Rosa's Yummy Yums for choosing such a yummy challenge!

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~

Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:

4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled

1 3/4 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Instant yeast

1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)

1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)

1 Tb sugar

Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONEMethod:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C). NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

Spoon Bread

Twice a week we swap out night swim practice and go to the morning practice. At 4:30am (which in my opinion is still night!) my son and I could care less about breakfast. A cup of hot coffee for me and maybe a quick, small bowl of cereal for him. By 7:30am, after swim practice, he is ready for something hardy.

At 7:30am the soccer player drags his little butt out of bed as we get home.The soccer player declares that he will eat later...when is later? Lunch. He isn't into breakfast. He isn't really into much until his brain wakes up about 2 hours later. So, this is the child that inherited my night owl gene. There was once a time in my life that I'd only have been in bed for about 2 hours at 4:30am. Kids. They do have a way of changing things don't they?

Now that the weather is colder and we find a bit of frost in the morning what my swimmer craves is something warm, comforting and hardy. What can be easier than a little spoon bread for breakfast? So, that is what I whip up. Sure it has to bake, but the aroma, the warmth of the oven...well, it makes the wait worth while and even my non-breakfast eating sleepy head wants to have breakfast since I am making spoon bread. The boys do their morning chores, prep for their lessons and then, like two little old men they sit at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, reading the paper and watching the news..patiently waiting for their spoon bread.

Spoon Bread (Sweet Version)

3/4 cup polenta (I like polenta, that is quick cooking, but you can use cornmeal, white or yellow)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 cups boiling water

4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

4 beaten eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the inside of 4 ramekins or other oven safe baking dishes. (I use my onion soup crocks)


2. Stir the polenta, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon together.


3. Then add the butter and water, stirring vigorously to avoid clumps. Let sit a few minutes to cool a bit.


4. Add the eggs, the milk and the vanilla, continually stirring.


5. Pour into baking dishes. Bake for about 35 minutes or until they puff and are golden. Be careful to not overcook.


6. You can add a dab of butter on top of each right before they are served.

Baguette Bread

Sorry, there is no recipe today. I just don't have the spare time to write down the directions, although I can tell you that I used the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. It was straightforward and easy to follow. Not to mention, it was very good. What you don't see in the photos is my family standing behind me ready to pounce on the bread. One son held the butter, the other held some cheese and my husband had the knife and the cutting board!

It is going to be another one of those crazy weeks for me as if they aren't busy enough! My husband had to go away, last minute and so here I am thinking if they can split the atom then, can they split the mom? I have two soccer games, away and a two day swim meet. So, naturally, the USMC picked this week to send my husband away. Its par for the course and I've learned to go with the flow, but it wouldn't flow so easily if it weren't for my soccer mom pals who will help me out on Sunday.

Just a reminder: Go to Baking Delights and vote for your favorite "pink" food in the Boobie Bake-Off. Voting runs from October 17th - 24th. It costs $1 to vote and all proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Help the cause and vote! (My entry is the Upside-Down Plum Cake as shown in the post below.)

The Boobie Bake-Off

In a post, last month, I wrote that I would participate in the Boobie Bake-Off sponsored by Baking Delights. The bakers participating are required to make something pink and post it by October 15th. Our generous host will then post all the entries on her blog.

Voting will begin October 17th and end October 24th. Readers will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite entry. The cost to vote is $1 in paypal through Baking Delights. Put the name of the blog in the description and the money will be donated to Susan G. Komen Foundation research in the name of the winning blogger. You can vote as many times as you like but each vote costs a dollar.


As you can see I couldn't bring myself to make anything with food coloring. I originally planned to make macarons, but was constrained by time, so I chose to make these adorable little upside- down plum cakes that really had much more pink to them then my photos admit. The pink hues came from the plum themselves and the use of pomegranate molasses. (Recipe Below)

So, please help the cause. It doesn't matter who wins. What matters is that we get a lot of votes. So, check out all the entries and vote (beginning October 17th) at Baking Delights.

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup packed golden brown sugar

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

6 large plums, halved, pitted, each half cut into thin slices
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon chambord

1/2 cup whole milk

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Stir 6 tablespoons butter, brown sugar and molasses in heavy medium skillet over low heat until butter melts and sugar and molasses blend in, forming thick, smooth sauce.
• Transfer to 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Arrange plums in overlapping concentric circles atop sauce.
• Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter in large bowl until light. Add sugar and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and chambord.
• Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, mixing just until blended. Spoon batter evenly over plums.
• Bake cake until golden and tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool in pan 30 minutes.
• Using knife, cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Place platter atop cake pan. Invert cake; place platter on work surface. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently lift off pan. Serve warm.

"Ging-ah!" Chocolate Angel Food Cake

I cannot believe I haven't posted in one week! I don't know where my days go, but they go and go and go at breakneck speeds. Needless to say, I haven't had time for much baking. At one point during the week, between soccer, swim, workouts, lessons, music, cooking, sleeping and taking care of the very demanding duo (that would be my cats, not my children) I managed to try a new recipe from Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

The only other recipe I've tried from this book has been the Flourless Chocolate Cookies, which were outstandingly delicious and easy. This time I made the Chocolate-Ginger Angel Food Cake on page 181, mainly because it was easy and I had a lot of egg whites on hand. It involved three steps: making candied ginger, the cake and a chocolate glaze(loose ganache).

My family loves ginger. My boys "fight" for the small slices on the sushi platters and my husband will eat anything with ginger, after saying quite loudly, "Ging-ah!"(I have no idea why, but he does it every time.) So with a no further ado, as I have very little time as it is, here is the recipe for a most delicious "Ging-ah!" Chocolate Angel Food Cake, recipe by Francois Payard:

Candied Ginger
1 (3 inch) piece fresh ginger
1 cup simple syrup
about 1 cup sugar

• Peel the ginger and thinly slice it.


• Place the slices and syrup in a small saucepan over low-medium heat, and simmer until the ginger becomes translucent, about 20 minutes


• Remove from the heat, set aside to cool.


• Remove the ginger and pat it dry with paper towels


• Cut the ginger into 1/4 inch thick strips. Dredge the strips in the sugar and let them sit, completely covered by the sugar, overnight. (*I put them on a small piece of parchment to avoid any sticky problems)

Cake
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
2/3 teaspoon ground ginger
9 large egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


• Sift together the flour, confectioners' sugar cocoa powder and ground ginger. Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium speed. When the whites begin to form soft peaks increase the speed to high, add a third of the granulated sugar and whip until completely incorporated. Add the remaining sugar in two increments and whip until the whites hold medium peaks


• With a spatula, gently fold the dry ingredients and candied ginger into the eggs.


• (**I left the candied ginger out of the cake, preferring it as a garnish only. The cake had enough ginger flavor without it and my family liked eating it dipped in chocolate.)


• Pour batter into un-greased cake pan (9x2).


• Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.


• Remove from the oven, invert pan onto the cooling rack, but do not remove the pan until the cake is completely cool.

Chocolate Glaze
8 oz chocolate, chopped
tablespoon light corn syrup
1 cup heavy cream

• Should be made after cake is cooled and removed from the pan.


• Place the chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl


• Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.


• Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.


• Strain the mixture into a bowl, use immediately, pouring over the cake.