The Joey Special: Two (Dessert) Pizzas!

In the end, it was more like two versions of the same dessert pizza and one experiment gone painfully, PAINFULLY wrong.

After getting over my utter shock and amazement of advancing to the next round (thank you guys again for your votes and support! I'm so honored to have made it to the top 72!) I cemented my ideas for the next challenge:

Challenge #5: The Recipe Remix

...We're challenging each of you to put your own spin on the same recipe... You'll be asked to put your own spin on Pizza. For the purpose of this contest and challenge, we are defining pizza as having a solid base, a sauce and at least one topping. 

The first image that popped in my head was a fruit tart I've done in the past:

But a fruit tart?  No, I needed something a bit more... non-conventional.  The first place I turned to was my good friend Pierre Hermé. 

By friend I clearly mean book.

I came across two "crusts" that I thought would make good bases for my dessert pizzas: 1) Dacquoise (p.39) and 2) Chocolate Puff Pastry (p.245).


The book says this about a dacquoise:


"The name refers to both the dessert and the disks that sandwich the dessert's filling - is a delicacy that can be found in pastry shops all over France.  Traditionally, it is made with almond flavored disks - the disks are a cross between a nut-speckled meringue and a cake - and filled with hazelnut flavored buttercream."
 

Dacquoise

By Pierre Herme

1/3 cup (40g) Almond Meal/Flour

1/2 cup (50g) Hazelnut Meal/Flour

(try to get the ones without the skin)

3/4 cup (150g) Granulated Sugar

(Split into two: 1/4 cup [50g] and 1/2 cup [100g])

5 Large Egg Whites, At Room Temp

2/3 cup (80g) Hazelnuts, Toasted and Skinned (I left this out)

1. Take parchment paper and draw a 6" circle using the bottom of a cake pan. FLIP IT OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE.  Prepare a pastry bag (or heavy duty zip top bag) with a round tip.

2. In a bowl, combine the Almonds, Hazelnut, and 1/4 cup of the sugar.

 

3. In a CLEAN bowl of a standing mixer whip whites until opaque. Rain in 1/2 cup sugar and whip until firm glossy peaks.

 

4. In another bowl gently mix the meringue with the almond/hazelnut/sugar mixture.

5. Pipe disks starting from the center out.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Dust with powdered sugar, wait 10 minutes, dust again, then wait 10 more minutes.

7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.

The original recipe called for bittersweet chocolate ganache but what better chocolate to go with hazelnut than Hazelnut Chocolate??? 

Topping: Cherries and peaches.

For the cherries I threw a pound of frozen cherries in a pot with about 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup lemon juice and brought to a boil.  Then I mixed 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of orange liqueur and added it to the mix.  Simmer for a minute or so.  Cool and fish out the cherries.

I toasted some coconuts and tried using that as an extra topping.

Kinda looks like cheese doesn't it?? It tasted better without.

For the peach I sliced the peaches really thin and fanned it out.  I did two layers of peaches then some toasted almond flour.

Onto the failed brilliant idea.

I loved stuffed crust pizza when I was growing up so I thought it would be absolutely BRILLIANT to try to incorporate that into this challenge.  

The pizza would be S'Mores and the stuff oozing out the crust... MARSHMALLOWS!!!

The crust was chocolate puff pastry and I'll just say... this one I'll leave to Pierre.

Chocolate Puff Pastry

By Pierre Herme

The Dough

3 cups (420g) All Purpose Flour

3/4 cup Cold Water (plus a few more tablespoons)

2 teaspoons Salt

5 tablespoons (70g) Unsalted Butter, Melted and Cooled

The Butter Packet

3 3/4 sticks (425g) Unsalted Butter, at room temp

1/2 cup (50g) Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder, Sifted

The Dough

1. Put flour in a bowl and create a well.  Mix the salt in the water until it dissolves then pour in well.  Mix and when most of water is absorbed, add melted butter.  Continue to mix.

Add little more water at a time if it's too dry and mix.

2. Knead into ball.

3. Form ball into 7"x7"-ish square

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 2 HOURS.

The Butter Packet

1. Take butter and beat in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment until smooth but not making it airy.

2. Form into a square an inch smaller on both sides than the dough.   

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 2 HOURS. 

The Turning (%#@&!)

1. Roll out the dough roughly 7"x12"

 

Soften the butter with hands or rolling pin and make it about half the size of the dough.

2. Fold over the half of the dough and seal in the butter.

3. If butter and dough are still cold enough, do the first turn.  If not, chill for 1 HOUR then do the first turn.

TURN 1

Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for 2 HOURS. 

 TURN 2

Chill for 2 HOURS. 

TURN 3

Same as before. You can see the dough turning a little brown...

If the dough is cold enough you can do TURN 3 and 4 without chilling.

Chill for 2 HOURS. 

TURN 4

A little more brown...

Chill for 2 HOURS. 

TURN 5

Now, it's a lot brown.

You can combine TURN 5 & TURN 6 without chilling.

Chill for 2 HOURS. 

TURN 6

Repeat.

Chill for 6 HOURS. Then use as desired.

Fingers crossed...

Nope.  Oh well.  Ganache!

MmmmMmmm.. preservatives!

Looks like eggs.

Torch, add Graham Cracker Crumbs and Voila!  A hot mess.

Taste? Not bad!

It was extremely frustrating... but fun to explore my creativity.  Hopefully, my efforts pay off!