Recipe // Grandma Style Pizza

My favorite pizza place in Philadelphia is Pizza Gutt, a strange “Instagram pizza restaurant.” Daniel releases the week’s menu on his Instagram Sunday so you can reserve a pizza for Wednesday-Saturday night at a cafe/bar. As a business model, it is genius – you know exactly how many ingredients to buy and you don’t have to pay rent.

Strange restaurant model aside, the pizza is incredible. Daniel makes the pizza Grandma-style, which means the crust is thick, fluffy and focaccia-like, and he sprinkles cheese around the outside so it gets a little burnt and crispy.

As a weekend project, I decided to try a Grandma style pizza.

This Bon Appetit recipe requires that you make the dough a day in advance so that it has time to bring out the flavors, making it the perfect weekend project.

I overbaked the pizza a bit and set off the fire alarm for a minute or so… but this is definitely a recipe that I am hoping to perfect and add to a monthly rotation. Making a great homemade pizza definitely sounds like a great skill to have.

Also, I may make the photo below my phone wallpaper:

Grandma Style Pizza with Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, and Rosemary

Pizza dough adapted from Bon Appetit

Serves 3 (I cut the Bon Appetit recipe in half)

Pizza Dough
1 envelope active dry yeast (about 2¼ tsp.)
1 tbsp plus 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for bowl
2 tsp kosher salt
2 c all-purpose flour, divided, plus more for surface

Pizza
1 c mozzarella
1/2 c caramelized onions
1/2 c grape tomatoes, cut in quarters
lavender, for sprinkling
salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Combine yeast and 1½ cups warm water (105–110°) in a large bowl; let stand until yeast starts to foam, about 10 minutes.
2. Mix in 1 tbsp oil, salt and 1 cup flour. Add another 1 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated and a shaggy dough forms.
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until soft, smooth, and elastic, 10–12 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill 24 hours.
4. Coat an 8×12” rimmed baking sheet with remaining 1/4 cup oil. Gently and gradually stretch dough until it reaches the edges of baking sheet.
5. Cover dough on baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until it is puffed and full of air bubbles, 30–40 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 525 F, or as high as it will go.
7. Sprinkle on cheese, then toppings of your choice (you can see my toppings in the ingredients list above).
8. Bake until the crust is golden brown, around 20 minutes. (don’t over-bake like I did!)

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Recipe // Banana Cinnamon Rolls

It is finally hot outside, but I don’t think I need to convince you that gooey, warm cinnamon rolls are great year-round.

These cinnamon rolls are made of a yeasted, banana-sweetened dough, swirled around a heavily spiced, cinnamon-butter mixture.

In short, you’ll want these for breakfast tomorrow.

I am trying to get over my hesitation to making yeasted doughs. Their particular preferences for temperature, the long time it takes to rise… I used to think it wasn’t worth the effort. But with the longer days of summer, I am ready to make it yeasted doughs my new project.

Banana Cinnamon Rolls

Inspired by Like Mother Like Daughter

Rolls
2 1/4 tsp yeast (1 package)
3/4 c warmed milk
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c butter (1 stick, softened)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 bananas
4 1/2 – 5 c flour

Filling
1/3 c butter (melted)
1 c brown sugar

Rolls

1. Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add in the sugar, butter, salt, eggs, banana, and flour (Start with 4 /12 cups of flour and add a little more at a time as needed) and mix well.
3. Once the dough starts to come away from the edges, continue to knead the dough for about 5 minutes (If you are using your hands, dust them with flour to avoid sticking) until a large ball is formed.
4. Cover the bowl with a towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the dough is double in size.
5. Lightly flour the counter top. Roll the dough out until it is approximately 16×21 inches and 1/4 inch thick.
6. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
7. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.Spread butter over the surface of the dough.
8. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the surface of the dough.
9. Carefully roll the dough from the long top edge to the bottom edge.
10. Using a thread, or a sharp knife cut the dough into 1 – 1 1/2 in slices.
11. Lightly grease a baking pan or two.
12. Place rolls in the baking pan and bake for 25 minutes or until the tops turn a light golden color.
13. While they are baking combine frosting ingredients. Add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too runny, or a little more milk if it is too thick.
14. Remove rolls from the oven and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before frosting.

Frosting

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth.
2. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt and continue to blend until the frosting is smooth.
3. Apply frosting generously to the tops of the rolls.

Recipe // Funfetti Layer Cake

It’s the end of finals, so obviously I made funfetti cake.

I always wanted to make Molly’s homemade funfetti cake, but after meeting her last year for Cherry Bombe, I was feeling particularly inspired.

I don’t associate funfetti cake with my childhood like I feel a lot of my friends do. I can appreciate the colorful sprinkles and fluffy white cake, but I have no attachment to the fake, from-a-box flavor.

This cake just takes all the childhood fun and makes it a little more gourmet.

 

Funfetti Cake by Molly Yeh

Cake

2 1/2 c flour
1/4 c constarch
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 c sugar
4 large egg whites
1/4 c flavorless oil
1 tb clear imitation vanilla
3/4 c whole milk
1/2 c rainbow sprinkles (artificially colored cynlinders, not nonpareils, sanding sugar, or anything naturally colored)

Cake Soak

1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Frosting

1 3/4 c unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 c powdered sugar
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp clear imitation vanilla
2 tb whole milk

 

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºf. Grease and line the bottoms of three 8-inch cake pans.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg whites, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. add the oil and vanilla extract.
4. With the mixer running on low speed, add the dry mixture and the milk in two or three alternating batches and mix until just barely combined, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the sprinkles until they’re evenly distributed. distribute the batter among the cake pans, spreading it out evenly.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Begin checking for doneness at 25 minutes.
6. When the cakes are still warm, brush with cake soak.
7. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

1. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and gradually beat in the powdered sugar. Add the salt, extracts, and milk and beat to combine.
2. Frost the cake as desired and enjoy!