Gourmet night wouldn’t be complete without a gourmet dessert pizza! To top off a great pizza night, I chose an Almond and Roasted Apple pizza recipe from Pizzamarketplace.com which I modified. The pizza was a bit expensive, but well worth it in everyones opinion! Here are the ingredients I used for an 11 inch pie:

Base:
8 oz tub – Mascarpone cheese
5 oz – Sour Creme
3 oz – Brown Sugar
1/2 t – Almond Extract
1/4 t – Vanilla Extract

Toppings:
2 – Red Delicious Apples (roasted – see below)
3 oz – Dried Cranberries (plumped – see below)
3 oz – Slivered Almonds
Streusel Topping (4 tbl butter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar)

To prepare the base mixture, I simply combined the ingredients in a mixing bowl and set them aside. I also had to plump the cranberries by simmering them in hot water until they regained their round shape.

The preparation of the apples took the most time. I thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch slices) 2 Red Delicious apples and placed them in a medium sauce pan with 1 t cornstarch, 1/3 c sugar, cinnamon, 1 t lemon juice and 1 T apple juice. The apples have to be heated over low heat for about 35 minutes or until they are tender and caramelized. Then they are set aside to cool for assembly.

I hand made streusel by mixing 1/4 stick of butter with about 1/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour. I adjusted the flour amount by adding until the streusel was breaking into small crumbs when mixed.

I stretched a blank of Bill’s Traditional into an 11 inch pie and spread the cheese mixture on with a spatula. The cheese mix was very thick and I had to spread from the center toward the edges to keep the pizza in shape. Once the base was down, I placed the apple slices edge to edge. Next, cranberries were drained then sprinkled evenly on the pie. Almonds and Streusel were also spread. The streusel covered the toppings lightly.

Pizza was baked for about 12 minutes at 480 degrees. When removed from the oven, I drizzled the pie with a small amount of caramel topping in a criss-cross pattern. With all of the amazing ingredients, how could anyone not like this pizza?!? The mascarpone cheese is the main ingredient in tiramisu. As such it was a bit expensive (almost $9 per pound). Everyone loved this pie, but I will have to find a way to reduce the cost if I am going to be able to make it more frequently! Great dessert pizza!

My second gourmet pizza project began when I saw the basis for a great taco pizza recipe on Pizzamarketplace.com. I made a batch of Bill’s Traditional dough allowing it to rise in the breadmaker for almost 2 hours by mistake! It was over the top of the bread pan. I removed it, balled it and placed the balls in the refrigerator for later in the evening. The balls continued to rise to more than twice their size by 7:00 pm.

I gathered and prepared all of the ingredients for the taco pizza while the dough proofed. Here are the ingredients:

Base:
2/3 c – Taco Sauce
2/3 c – Pizza Sauce (I used my Neapolitan Sauce)
1/4 c – Refried beans
1 bag – Ortega brand Taco meat seasoning
1 lb. – Ground Beef
1 1/2 c – Mozzarella cheese

Topping (after baking):
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Chopped Tomato
Sliced Black Olives
Sour Creme

The beef was browned in a skillet and drained. Then I mixed in the packet of taco meat seasoning and some water as per the instructions on the bag. Assembly was easy. Once the dough was stretched, I mixed the taco sauce, pizza sauce, and refried beans and spread it on the blank. Next, a layer of mozzarella was laid with the taco meat sprinkled on top. Another layer of mozzarella was placed over the meat. The pizza baked for 11 minutes at 480 degrees.

Once out of the oven, the pizza was cut then topped with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and sliced black olives.

The flavor of the taco pizza was great! The base sauce had a great taste and had texture to it. The refried beans offset the tangy tomato and cheddar. This is a hearty pizza – an 11 inch pie fed 3 adults and two young children. I will definitely be making this one again soon!

 

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

  

©2004 goCrawford.com

 

1 1/2 c – Water (110 degrees)
2 tsp - Sugar
1 ¼ tsp - Kosher Salt
2 T - Olive Oil
3 c - Hi-Gluten Flour (Pillsbury)
¼ tsp - Garlic Powder
1 t - Baking Powder
2 t - Corn Meal
1 ½ tsp - Instant Dry Yeast (flieshmans ADY)

Mixed ingredients in bread machine and allowed it to rise for 30 minutes. I stretched it and panned the dough immediately after patting it slightly with flour. Used a cookie sheet greased with spray shortening. Sprayed crust edges with spray shortening. Topped with Neapolitantian sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms and some green peppers.

Cooked at 480 degrees for about 13 minutes since the last thick pizza did not cook through. It turns out this was a bit too long and the pie was slightly over-cooked. Crust rose over 1 inch! It had a very good flavor.

I’ll have to reduce the cooking time of this crust and I’d also like to experiment with allowing this dough to rise overnight.

1 1/4 c – Water (110 degrees)
1 ¼ tsp – Sugar
1 ¼ tsp – Salt
2 T – Olive Oil
3 c – Hi-Gluten Flour (Pillsbury)
¼ tsp – Garlic Powder
1 ½ tsp – Instant Dry Yeast (flieshmans ADY)

Jenn mixed this batch of dough around 4:00 and let it rise in the breadmaker. Around 5:30 I cut the dough into two balls and set them aside while I prepped the toppings.

I purchased some sweet Italian sausage at the grocery store and rolled it into half-inch balls. After frying them, I set them aside. I also sliced thin fresh mushrooms and stick pepperoni. For sauce, I made a large batch of Neapolitan sauce which I modified to increase the sugar to 1 Tablespoon.

Dough was elastic and somewhat hard to stretch due to its freshness. I tossed the dough balls into 2 eleven inch pies. I treated the bottom with corn meal and prepared the pizza on the peel. I didn’t brush the edge of the crust with olive oil. I tried to spray shortening on the second pizza, but it didn’t have the same appearance after baking.

Pizzas cooked for 8 minutes @ 500 degrees. Crust was a half inch with nice texture and good bite. They were a tiny bit tough since the dough was fresh. The toppings tasted excellent! Italian sausage will be used again, but I have to find it cheaper or make it myself. Here are some pics:

Check out these sweet Pizza Trailers! I would love to take this baby on the road. What more can a pizza maker need? Smells like a business idea…