Dessert Pizza

Follow the basic dough recipe as below and turn it into fancy after-dinner desserts like what we made for ourselves tonight -- Apple Cinnamon Pizza and Choco Banana Pizza!

Basic dough recipe

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 sachet (7g) yeast
1/2 cup luke warm water

1 Make yeast mixture.
2 Combine flour, salt, sugar and water.
3 Pour in yeast mixture.
4 Knead for 15 minutes or until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
5 Leave to double in size (usually 2-3 hours).

Once you get the basic dough, roll out dough into rectancle. Spread butter in the middle and bring the four corners to the centre. Fold the top and bottom fourth to the middle then close off like a book. Cover the dough with parchment paper and refrigerate for another 2 hours. Repeat the steps twice or thrice more.

Please refer video here

Apple Cinnamon Pizza

(A)
1 quantity of ready dough

(B)
1 granny smith apple
1 tsp cinnamon powder
6 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup water

(C)
Banana, sliced
Strawberries, sliced

1 Warm(B) in a saucepan to prepare apple cinnamon syrup.
2 Roll out ready dough.
3 Spread stewed apple and syrup around.
4 Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
5 Garnish with sliced banana and strawberries

The base turned out spongy like the Chinese 'Man Tou' (馒头)!





Choco Banana Pizza

1 quantity of ready dough
1 banana, sliced
3-4 strawberries, sliced
3 tbsp nutella
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

1 Roll out dough.
2 Spread nutella evenly onto dough.
3 Place sliced banana randomly.
4 Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
5 Garnish with sliced strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

Mr T had his Choco Banana Pizza baked at the bottom rack. Hence, the dough turned out crispy whilst mine turned out spongy and elastic. Both pizza attempts were so far considerably successful!

Pasta and Turkey Cream Sauce

Once in a while, we like having pasta in cream sauce (although Mr T still prefers the tomato sauce). Some people might find cream sauce too heavy for a meal, but I find the creamy texture utterly satisfying and further perfectionised with the addition of wild mushrooms, smoked salmon, turkey mince and leek. For this time, I chose to include only the latter two and finish the dish off with grated parmesan to create a rich but delicate sauce. I usually like fusilli (spiral) pasta as it blends in well with the cream sauce.

Fusilli pasta usually go well with cream sauce.

Turkey Cream Sauce

500g turkey mince
1 brown onion, chopped
1 leek, sliced lengthways
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp italian herbs
375mL chicken stock
300mL light thickened cream
Corn flour and water
Grated parmesan
Parsley

1 On HIGH heat, brown onion with salt, pepper, sugar and italian herbs.
2 Add turkey mince, followed by leek.
3 Pour in chicken stock. Boil until all ingredients are cooked through.
4 Stir in thickened cream, simmer over MEDIUM heat.
5 Stir in corn water, continue to simmer over LOW heat until sauce thickens.
6 Garnish with grated parmesan and parsley.

Savoury Scroll

I read a book about how to make a dough a while ago. It highlights the importance of getting the water:flour ratio correct to yield a smooth and elastic dough. The simplest recipe is as below. Mixing all ingredients in no sequential order is a typical method. However, if you can prepare a yeast mixture before hand (mixing yeast with a little water), the result somehow is better! It is true!

Basic dough recipe

2 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 sachet (7g) yeast
1/2 cup luke warm water

1 Make yeast mixture.
2 Combine flour, salt, sugar and water.
3 Pour in yeast mixture.
4 Knead for 15 minutes or until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
5 Leave to double in size (usually 2-3 hours).

Once you have the dough, you can literally make anything out of it. One of the popular pastries is Cinnamon Roll. I don't mind the cinnamon scent, but I am more curious about the savoury taste this time. So, I decided to make cheesy bacon and mushroom scrolls instead. Mr T was the first person to taste the result. To my greatest relief, he loves them so much that he gobbled four at one time. I like this recipe a lot. It is definitely a must try!

Savoury Schroll

Makes 10

1 basic dough
1 cup diced mushrooms
2 slices short cut rindless bacon, fat removed and diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 egg, beaten
Sprinkle of mozarella & cheddar cheese
Sprinkle of mixed herbs/smoked paprika
Sprinkle of salt and pepper

1 Punch down dough and roll out into a rectancle shape.
2 Brush surface with olive oil.
3 Spread diced mushrooms and bacon evenly.
4 Sprinkle mixed herbs, salt and pepper and cheese all over.
5 Roll pastry lengthways to form a log.
6 Cut crossways into 2cm thick slices.
7 Leave to expand for another 20 minutes.
8 Brush pastry with beaten egg.
9 Bake at 280C for 15 minutes.