Saturday, December 1, 2012

It's Saturday Night...and We're having Pizza & Cake!!!

Today we ran a bunch of errands and got a lot done.  I hope to begin decorating for Christmas tomorrow.  Since it's Saturday, it seemed like a good night to have pizza for dinner.  Hubby was busy watching football, so I thought it would be a good time for me to experiment some in the kitchen with baking a grain and sugar free cake for the first time.  I wasn't sure how it would turn out since I sort of made it up as I went...LOL (sometimes those are the scariest adventures for me).  I have lots of "regular baking experience" but very limited experience when it comes to grain free baking -- and there's quite a bit of difference baking with alternative flours.  I am pleased to report that the cake turned out great!  I decided to use almond flour and didn't want the cake to be overly dense -- I wanted to get some "rise" with it -- and rise it did!!!  I held my breath for a minute or two because I actually thought it might just rise right out of the Bundt pan I baked it in.  Thankfully, it stayed in the pan and didn't spill over.  I made a basic pound cake/yellow cake and wanted to cover it with some type of frosting or glaze -- preferably one with chocolate.  I made a thick dark chocolate almond frosting/glaze.  Below is a picture of the pizza (and crust recipe) we had for dinner -- it is topped with red and yellow bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and turkey pepperoni.  You will also find a picture of the cake I baked.  I'll post the recipe for the cake separately because I still need to write it up first and translate my chicken scratch that I jotted down as I went along.  I'll post the cake recipe either later this evening or tomorrow.  Enjoy!

Voila!
BOOM!
TA-DA!

Below is the pizza crust recipe...cake recipe to follow soon!



Almond/Flax/Parmesan Herb Pizza Crust
Makes 2 10-inch round pizzas OR 1 large rectangular cookie sheet sized pizza 

Ingredients:

Dry:
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup golden flax seed meal (organic golden flax has a milder taste than brown)
1-1/3 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free)
1 - 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 
Couple dashes cayenne pepper, optional
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, optional
Few grinds of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup PLUS 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated (powdered type)

Wet:
2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute such as Egg Beaters)
2 tablespoons olive oil (a little more, if desired)
2 - 3 tablespoons water (start with 2 tablespoons)
 
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients together; add wet ingredients and mix well.  Let the dough sit for about 5 minutes to thicken. 

Spread dough on a lightly oiled large rectangular cookie sheet (or pizza pan) on greased parchment paper (I use Reynolds non-stick foil, lightly brushed or sprayed with olive oil.  Place ball of dough in the center of the pan and begin pressing the dough outward with a lightly oiled rubber spatula or place a piece of parchment paper lightly sprayed with olive oil on top and flatten/smooth out with a rolling pin to about 1/4-inch thick; carefully remove top layer of parchment. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through and dry/lightly crisp feeling to the touch (check the crust after 15 minutes and take out if it looks and feels done).  Add sauce, cheese, pre-cooked toppings and place back into the oven for 5-10 minutes to melt the cheese.  If desired, run under the broiler for a few minutes to lightly brown the toppings and make the cheese bubbly (be careful not to burn it).  


    

9 comments:

Anna said...

wow, your cake looks amazing! I haven't been able to get a good rise with almond flour, and I don't use whey protein powder for baking like I've seen in some cake recipes. Can't wait to try this out, I would love to do a pizza and cake night :)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Anna -- thanks. The cake actually turned out good. Wait until you see the photos of it -- and how much rise I got -- I was totally shocked! LOL Fortunately it rose straight up and not out all over my oven! It was nice to have a pizza and cake night -- it kind of felt like I was being "naughty"...LOL. ;-)

K Angelo said...

Thanks for this great recipe! I had a sad day today, and pizza was just the thing!

Kim

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks Kim -- pizza always helps. :-) I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

Unknown said...

WOW!!! Is all I can say I made your pizza recipe last night. I had family over for dinner I made the pizza and some other food for them but everyone wanted to try the pizza and all they kept saying was how good it was some even had a second piece. Thank you for sharing.
Mary

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

That's great, Mary! So glad you enjoyed it! Once I made a pizza crust that I liked and was pretty quick and simple -- it made all the difference in the world for me! So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for letting me know! :-)

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to have found your Blog! I would love to make the basic yellow cake(?..don't know name) This one you made for pizza nite~ where can I find recipe?

Anonymous said...

where can I find cake recipe

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi there Anonymous! Here is the link to the cake recipe you were looking for (I actually posted the recipe for it the day after the pizza post -- I posted the pizza on Dec 1st and the cake recipe on Dec 2nd because I ran out of time!). Here is the link: http://www.gourmetgirlcooks.com/2012/12/yellow-pound-cake-w-rich-chocolate.html (PS - to help you find things more easily -- at the top left margin of my blog there is a white rectangular box with a little magnifying glass -- if you type in "cake" -- it will pull any of my posts for you that have the word cake in them. It is a quick way to go to what you are looking for. Hope that helps and so glad you enjoy the blog! :-)