Quick and Easy Pizza Dough

I love how you can connect with others on social media particularly on twitter. A recent follower on my twitter account is David from Old Fat Guy (@DiscoDavid9)  He lives in Canada and likes to cook. He has lots of great recipes on his site but the one that caught my eye recently was this recipe for Quick Pizza. I'm not a huge lover of pizza and will almost always choose pasta over pizza if we eat at an Italian restaurant. Over the Easter weekend, we did a lot of work around the house and wanted something quick and simple for dinner. Instead of ordering a takeaway pizza, I decided to give David's recipe a try as it seemed so quick and simple. 

It was also a good chance to make use of ingredients in the fridge to use as pizza toppings. I was terrible at shaping the pizza so mine looks quite 'rustic'. Let's just say that was how I intended it to look in the first place :) I rolled out the dough quite thinly as I prefer a thin base pizza and made 2 different ones. The first had a tomato and pepper pesto as a base and was topped with pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes, grated cheese and mozarella cheese. The second one had a bbq sauce base and was topped with ham, cheese and tomato. I baked them on my pizza stone and they tasted absolutely delicious! The pizzas were ready in about 35 minutes from start to finish! That's quicker than some pizza deliveries particularly on a busy weekend. This is definitely going on the regular menu plan and it would be great for parties or when I have guests round. 

I'm sending this to Bready, Steady, Go! hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families. Both Jen and Michelle are keen bread bakers so they've decided to host this challenge together. 

I'm also sending it to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this and a few other recipes whilst going through David's blog.

It's also perfect for Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. Making your own pizza is definitely more cost effective than ordering one for delivery even if you bought all the ingredients from scratch. Hopefully you will have some of these ingredients at home. The bonus is you can custom make your own pizza and not have to pay extra! As mentioned I used up leftovers from the fridge for toppings. 

 

 mix until the dough starts to clump on the hook

 almost ready - you can see that the dough is smoother and sticks to the dough hook 

 my 'rustic' pizza 

 spread base of pizza on dough 

 add your toppings and bake 

 first pizza - tomato and pepper base with pepperoni,mushroom, tomato and cheese 

  second pizza - bbq sauce base with ham, tomato, mushroom and cheese 

Recipe adapted slightly from Old Fat Guy

I used bread flour instead of plain flour as I'd run out of plain flour (shocking but true) 

My pizzas only needed 8-9 minutes to cook as the dough was very thin and I used a pizza stone. 

240g bread flour (or plain flour), divided into 120g x 2

2.25 teaspoon easy bake yeast 

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

160ml very warm water

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pizza toppings of your choice 

• Place a cold pizza stone in the oven and pre heat the oven to 220C or as high as your oven will go.  
• Mix 120g flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Add the water and oil to the mixture. 
• Give it a quick stir then add the remaining 120g flour and place on the stand mixer with a dough hook.
• Mix until the dough starts to clump on the hook and continue mixing for another 7 minutes. Set a timer and let the mixer do all the work! 
• Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes. 
• Roll out the dough in a circle and toss the pizza if you know how! Otherwise, roll it out thinly into a rustic shape like mine.
• Transfer the pizza to the hot pizza stone and spread pesto sauce, bbq sauce or pizza base on top of the dough then add the toppings. I found it easier than transferring a ready made pizza to the hot pizza stone. Alternatively you can use a cake lifter or pizza paddle to transfer the ready made pizza to the hot pizza stone. 
• Bake for about 8-9 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and the dough is brown on the edges. You may need to bake it longer if your dough is thicker. 
• Slice and enjoy! 
• Note: If you don't have a pizza stone, you can bake this on a pizza pan which has perforations to ensure a crispy base.

Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately I'm really pleased that it's a long bank holiday weekend. There's lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it.  Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as it's a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive. 

You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the 'yolk' which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate! 

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month. 

The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so I'm hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count! 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.

Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 

 making the 'yolk'  (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 

 cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs don't melt into the container and make a mess. Plus it's quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 

 Fill with cheesecake filling 

 Pipe the 'egg yolk' on top 

 This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) 

 Happy Easter! 

Recipe from raspberri cupcakes 

Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat

For the cream cheese filling 

150g cream cheese

30g icing sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

125mls double cream

For the 'egg yolk' 

1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only

1 tablespoon apricot jam

15g butter 

For the chocolate spoon (optional) 

chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs

approximately 75g milk chocolate 

• Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
• Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
• (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage) 
• Make the 'egg yolk' by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. 
• Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set. 
• Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until it's smooth and fluffy. 
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. 
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
• Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chilled 'egg yolk' mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg. 

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Quick post today. January is turning out to be busier than expected so apologies for the lack of posts. I've had this recipe bookmarked since last year from Nigella's Christmas and I'm glad I finally got round to making them. They are just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups but better! I watched Nigella demonstrate the recipe on her Christmas show which was the impetus for making these. I also needed some gluten free treats for my afternoon tea and I absolutely love peanut butter so this was a no brainer. A word of warning though, they are quite addictive! 

I'm sending this to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I've had this recipe bookmarked for over a year from my copy of Nigella's Christmas. The recipe is also available online. 

 Little peanut butter cups ready to be coated in chocolate 

 I used mini silver star sprinkles and I did a few colourful ones as well 

 This is what it looked like on the afternoon tea spread (top left) 

Recipe from Nigella's Christmas Kitchen 2007 which can be found online here 

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

Recently I got a lovely care package from America via a friend. I've already baked with the butterscotch chips and pumpkin puree. This time I am using my all time favourite ingredient peanut butter in the form of Reese's peanut butter chips. The inspiration for this recipe comes from Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron. She made these Everyday Double Chocolate Cookies for AlphaBakes which I immediately bookmarked. I've put my own twist on the recipe and they were absolutely amazing. The cookies were crunchy particularly with the crispy cornflakes. It was the perfect balance between sweet and salty and I particularly liked that the peanut butter chips did not melt after baking. You get a really intense chocolate hit with the crunchiness and slight saltiness of cornflakes and peanut butter. I can't wait to try different variations of this versatile recipe. 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted this month by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co-hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter is P for Peanut Butter.

I'm also entering this Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this recipe back in May 2014 and have finally gotten round to making it.

 cream butter and sugars together until you get a pale golden mixture 

 adding peanut butter chips 

 adding cornflakes 

 ready to go in the oven - don't worry if the mixture is a little crumbly 

 delicious! 

Recipe adapted from The Lass in the Apron

113g butter

100g light brown sugar 

70g caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water (use 1 tablespoon at a time)

215g plain flour

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

45g cornflake cereal

283g peanut butter chips (1 bag) 

• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. 
• Add vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of water. 
• (Alexandra advises that you leave the mixture to stand for at least 10 mins to help develop the butterscotch notes but I skipped this as I was short on time) 
• Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda. 
• If necessary, add in the remaining tablespoon of water. The dough will be quite soft and sticky. 
• Add in the peanut butter chips and mix with a spatula.
• Finally stir in the cornflakes. 
• Place a small ice cream scoop of dough spaced apart on a baking tray. Don't worry if the mixture is a little crumbly - just press it firmly into a ball and it will stick together.
• Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until cooked.
• Allow to cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  

Spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swiss Roll

Quite a few months ago, I asked J to look through my new cookbook - The Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home and bookmark recipes that he'd like to try. I've never actually gotten round to baking any of them for him so when I felt the urge to bake, I looked through the chosen recipes and decided on this particular recipe for a few reasons. Firstly, my co host Caroline has chosen the letter 'P' for AlphaBakes this month so I thought this would fit nicely. Secondly, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'd recently received goodies from America which includes pumpkin puree. Thirdly, I had all the ingredients to hand and it was a relatively simple recipe to make.

I've only made swiss rolls a handful of times with varying degrees of success. I learned from my last attempt to whisk the eggs and sugar for a long time- much longer than you think and it worked much better this time. This sponge is really fragrant with the ground cinnamon and pumpkin puree. It's filled with a sweet cream cheese filling which complements the sponge perfectly. This is a very autumnal recipe but I just couldn't wait to try it out. J was extremely pleased and gave it his seal of approval. 

As mentioned, I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted this month by Caroline from Caroline Makes and co-hosted by myself on alternate months. The letter is P for Pumpkin.

I'm also sending this to Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is mellow yellows and orange. I always thought pumpkin is a vegetable but it's actually a fruit. It's definitely orange so it fits in with the theme.

As I've had this recipe bookmarked for months, I'm sending it to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes.

Finally, I'm also sending it to Blogger Bakespiration Challenge hosted by Stuck In The Tree.

 beat the eggs and sugar until pale and doubled in volume

 pour into a swiss roll tin - definitely worth investing if you make these frequently 

 rolled, cooled and unrolled cake

 spread cream cheese filling 

 and roll then dust with icing sugar 

Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery Home Sweet Home

 For the sponge
120g plain flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
175g caster sugar (original recipe states 200g)
120g tinned pumpkin puree

For the filling
170g icing sugar, sifted
60g butter
300g cream cheese (origina recipe states 240g)

• Preheat oven to 170C.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until pale, fluffy and at least doubled in volume. This will take a good 5 minutes in an electric mixer.
• Fold in the pumpkin puree with a spatula, followed by the sifted dry ingredients.
• Be careful not to overmix and knock out the air in the mixture.
• Pour into a swiss roll tin and spread the mixture evenly - this is important otherwise the cake will cook unevenly.
• Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes or until the sponge is cooked and bounces back slightly when touched. 
• Prepare a large sheet of baking paper with icing sugar on top.
• Place the sponge on top of the baking paper. Make a small slit on the shorter end of the sponge and roll up the sponge with the paper inside. 
• The cake will be very hot from the oven so you may need to use a kitchen towel or oven gloves. 
• Allow to cool in the rolled position.
• Meanwhile, make the filling by beating the icing sugar and butter together and then adding in the cream cheese and continue beating until smooth.
• Unroll the cake and spread the cream cheese filling on to the cake.
• Roll the cake again using the baking paper to help you. 
• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.