BBD #21 Pizza

Probably won't have time to make my pizza in the next two weeks, so I made it today. We all loved how the dough turned out!!! Even my son, who has to have pizza his way, loved it!

Can't wait until fresh tomatoes from my neighbors garden come in so I can make the sauce from scratch, but for now I did use canned goods. It still turned out delicious. This months' BBD is from the lady who started the Bread Baking Day, Zorra.

http://kochtopf.twoday.net/stories/4124192/

Thanks Zorra, I have had so much fun entering and seeing all the different types of breads, from all over the world!

(I love how the dough looks, when rising.)

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

½ cup sourdough starter, freshly feed

1 cup spelt flour

1 ½ - 2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

In a large bowl, put warm water in. Sprinkle yeast over water and add sugar. Let proof 5 minutes. Add sourdough, oil, and salt, whisk, thoroughly. Add spelt flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add all-purpose flour and stir with wooden spoon until somewhat sticky. Sprinkle some flour onto a counter top and pour out the dough onto this. Start adding more flour and knead for about 5 minutes. Dough should be a little sticky. Rest for about 10 minutes. Start kneading again for about 7 more minutes, adding a little flour at a time, so that it is not too sticky. Put dough into a greased or oiled bowl and let rise for about 30 minutes.

Grease a large pizza pan or cookie sheet. After dough has doubled in size pour onto floured counter top and knead for about 1 minute. Start rolling this dough to fit onto your greased pizza pan and then spread out to fit the pan.

Preheat oven 475˚. Put the pizza dough without toppings in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Take out just before the dough turns a slight brown. Now add toppings (or recipe below) of your choice and cheeses. I did add pineapple and fresh spinach, very different, very good! Bake for another 10-12 minutes until cheese melts and sides of dough are brown. I usually have different types of grated cheeses that equal 8 ounces or about 1 cup. (Mozzarella, jack and Colby cheddar, along with more Parmesan)

Pizza Sauce

1 can (14.5 ounce size) diced tomatoes (could use 1 pint of home-canned tomatoes)

1 can (8 ounce size) tomato sauce

2 fresh cloves of garlic sliced and diced

¼ to ½ chopped onion, to equal about ¼ cup

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon of each: Parsley, thyme, rosemary, basil, and oregano

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Put all this into a small saucepan and cook and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until the sauce is thick to spread on the dough.

Taking a Break!

Won't be writing for awhile, as getting ready for my daughter's wedding and we are moving. So packing and wedding goodies are taking up my time.

See you in a couple of weeks!!!

Sunshine on a Plate

‘Sunshine on a Plate’ should be the perfect title for this lovely orange chiffon cake.  It reminds me of the great California oranges, that hung over our backyard. We use to pick them and sit and eat them. I love the white inside flesh, which I found that this is where flavanones come from.

The recipe itself is called, ‘Heavenly Orange Chiffon Cake’ from the magazine Quick and Simple.

This is a great light cake and taste ooooh so good!

I have found out by using powdered egg whites in some of the wedding cakes, that I have made it gives the cake a lighter spring to it. Since this recipe calls for 5 egg yolks and 7-8 egg whites, I just used the powdered egg whites for the two extra that it calls for in the recipe, so that I wouldn’t waste extra egg yolks.

Also I didn’t use this icing recipe, I used the one that follows the main recipe, and we think it tastes better, not as sweet.

 

Heavenly Orange Chiffon Cake

 

Cake

2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour (do not pack)

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup vegetable oil

5 large egg yolks

Juice of 2 medium oranges, plus water to make ¾ cup

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup egg whites (from 7 or 8 large eggs)

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ cup sugar

 

Icing

2 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons orange juice

 

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F. Place a rack in the lower third of the oven.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the oil, egg yolks, juice, zest and vanilla. Stir together with a wooden spoon until smooth.

3. Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until foamy. Add remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until very stiff peaks form.

4. Pour the batter gradually over whipped egg whites, gently folding with a rubber scraper until just blended. Do not stir. Immediately pour the mixture into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

5. Bake 65-70 minutes, or until top of cake springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan over the neck of a bottle and let it sit for at least 1 hour, or until cool. Use a small knife to loosen cake from sides of pan; remove cake to platter.

6. Meanwhile, make icing; In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons orange juice until smooth. Add more juice if needed for the consistency you want. Drizzle glaze over cake.

Serves 16.

 

Orange Glaze

1/3 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

½ teaspoon grated orange peel

2-4 tablespoons orange juice

Melt butter in small saucepan. Blend in powdered sugar, and orange peel. Stir in juice, 1 tablespoon at a time, until glaze is of proper consistency.

Glazes a 10” tube pan cake.

 

*Note to self: Future son-n-law, doesn’t care for the sweetness of cakes, but had 2 pieces of this one!!!!!