Welcome to May (hem!!!) - Pizza Edition!

Well, the traditional Mayhem hasn’t managed to find Seeley and me this year. I’m not moving across the country and she’s not completely lost in math. Well, here at Authors Kitchen, May just isn’t May without the hem, so we’ve decided to create a bit of our own.  Not only is Seeley sure to stir things up with her impending return (Yay!!), but we’ve decided to have a pizza off! Ok, so it’s not exactly your typical competition, but you know how we feel about rules. Basically, you're just going to get some recipes for some fantastic pizzas!

First up, a thin crust, honey mustard pizza. Somewhere in New York right now, someone is yelling at their screen about how honey mustard and chicken don’t go on pizza. Just wait until they hear about the crust.  I would say this falls into the category of what I call “cracker pizzas”. You know those crispy, thin ones with a crust that almost resembles the consistency of a cracker? The ones in the freezer section of your grocery store for like a buck? The ones you occasionally enjoy in private but would never actually admit to? Yeah, those. Did you know you can make your own, in less than 30 minutes, with no preservatives and other scary ingredients, and that tastes amazing?

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• 1 cup flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 – 5 Tablespoons warm water 

Toppings I used: 

• Cooked chicken
• Red bell pepper
• Green onion
• Feta cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 Tablespoons mustard 

Before you start you’ll probably want to turn your oven to 425°.  Then, into a mixing bowl go the flour, salt, and baking powder.

Stir them together and add the olive oil and 3 Tablespoons of water. 

Mix, continuing to add water ½ Tablespoon at a time until all of the flour is incorporated and you have a soft, but not really sticky, dough. 

Knead the dough for about a minute just to bring it all together and get rid of any bits of flour or lumps. Form it into a round disk, cover it with a damp towel (paper or cloth is fine) and set it aside.

While that’s resting, slice your bell pepper into thin slices.

Then, the green onion.

Next comes the sauce.  In a small bowl, combine two Tablespoons honey

And two Tablespoons mustard.

Stir them together until they're completely combined.  I’m not sure why, but when you mix honey and mustard you end up with something much thinner in consistency than either of them on their own. If I were a chemist, I’m sure I could explain why, but well…

Now for the crust. Grab your rested dough and begin rolling it.  Be sure to keep moving it as your roll so that it doesn’t stick to your countertop.  You want the end result to be about 1/8 inch thick and 12 ish inches in diameter. 

Lightly brush your pizza pan with olive oil before transferring the crust. I just put a little on a paper towel and rubbed it over the surface. With a fork, poke the entire surface of the dough.

Into the oven for 4 minutes. Yes 4. Not 3. Not 5.  It should look something like this.

Sprinkle on some grated mozzarella.  Wait, I was supposed to measure that? I don’t know, a cup? Enough to lightly cover the surface.

As for the chicken, I just used some leftover rotisserie chicken, but you can, of course, cook your own. Just make sure you do it before starting on anything else.  Whichever you use, slice it thin and place it around the pizza. Follow that with the red bell pepper, green onion, and feta.

Cover with a light sprinkle of mozzarella, just to help hold everything in place. Then, drizzle over the honey mustard. You probably won’t use it all. 

Back into the oven for another 12 minutes. When it’s ready it should be nice and bubbly on top and starting to brown around the edges. 

Remove it and allow it to cool on a rack for at least 2 or 3 minutes before cutting. Then just slice it like you would any other pizza.  I know, often times pizza places cut their thin crust pizzas into square pieces. Why? It makes no sense. The shape of the pizza hasn’t changed. I just don’t get it.

So there you have it, a delicious, thin, crispy crust pizza you made all on your own. Feel free to use the same crust with more traditional toppings or these toppings on a more traditional crust, as well.  This is more of a guide than an actual recipe. 

So, Seeley, what kind of pizza are you bringing to the May-hem party? 

Moving Mayhem - Raspberry Cupcake Edition

Call it prophecy or call it coincidence… either way, it’s somewhat humorous that I made this post one year ago and titled it Moving Mayhem – Bread Pudding Edition.  It’s almost as if I was setting myself up for another edition.  I just hope there isn’t another Moving Mayhem post in 2013.  This move should go much more smoothly than last year’s, even though we’re basically just doing the second half of that move in reverse.  If the weather forecasters are right, we at least won’t be dodging tornados.  So, since this move is only 500 miles and we’ll be doing it in basically 2 days, I’m not getting rid of everything.  That meant I could make whatever I wanted and didn’t have to worry about using up my good stuff.  It will be going with me.  With that in mind, I decided I wanted raspberry muffins, but since Seeley recently made muffins, I decided to change it to raspberry cupcakes, and the cupcakes vs. muffins discussion began.

Either way, here’s what you’ll need:

½ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs, separated
⅔ cup buttermilk
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon powder
1 cup raspberries 

So, I have to admit to not getting the best looking berries.  One of the other brands had much bigger, prettier berries, but they didn’t smell at all.  These ones, on the other hand, smelled amazing.  In fruit, aroma almost always trumps appearance. 

If you can’t find any that are good, you could probably use frozen ones.  Just make sure they have thawed and come to room temperature.  In fact, it’s important to note that everything in this recipe must be room temperature.  So, on that note, throw your softened butter into the bowl of your mixer.

Add the sugar and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy. 

Next, separate your eggs and put the whites aside. 

Add the yolks and vanilla to your butter mixture and beat until thoroughly incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. 

Add ⅓ of the dry mixture to the batter and mix to combine. 

Follow that with half of the buttermilk. 

Then another third of the dry, the other half of the wet, and finally the last of the dry.  You should have a nice smooth batter.  Obviously, everything needs to be scraped down.

Now back those egg whites you set aside.

Whip them until you have stiff peaks. 

Now, rinse your raspberries and add them to the bowl. 

You don’t want to totally decimate the raspberries, so just mix enough to break them up some.  It will be more evenly distributed after you’ve finished folding in the egg whites. 

Which you’re going to do now.  Start with half of the egg whites.  Just drop them on top.

Then fold them in.  This will lighten up the batter some, which will makes the second edition easier to incorporate. 

Fold that in now.

Um, somewhere in that process you should have preheated your oven to 350°.  Scoop the batter, filling the cups almost to the top.  I used a ¼ cup measuring cup for this process.  Somehow I haven’t managed to buy a muffin scoop.  At some point after I’ve moved, I’ll probably remedy that situation. 

Just before you put the cupcakes into the oven, turn the temperature up to 425°.  Place the cupcakes in the oven, leaving the temperature at 425° for 5 minutes, and then turn it back down to 350°.  That extra heat helps to keep your cupcakes nicely rounded on top and stops them from sinking in the middle.  Bake them for a total of 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, or perhaps with a few crumbs on it. 

Remove them from the pan as soon as you can and place them on a rack to cool.

Now it’s time for what I think makes a cupcake a cupcake… the frosting.  I keep reading about this amazing flour/cornstarch based frosting that is the most amazing frosting ever made.  I guess it’s time I gave it a try.  After much research, I took the parts I liked from different sources and put them together to form my own version of said frosting. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

¾ cup milk
¾ cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks  (¾  cup) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla 

When making frosting it’s important to use unsalted butter.  Salty frosting… not such a good thing.  Place your sugar, salt, and cornstarch into a medium saucepan.

Whisk them together until there are no more clumps of cornstarch. 

Add the milk.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture thickens.  You don’t want it to reach a rolling boil.  You’ll know it’s ready when you start to see the pan while you’re stirring. 

When you’ve reached that stage, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool.  It’s important that it is room temperature, and not even a little bit warm when you start the next part.  Place the softened butter into your mixing bowl.  You’ll want to use the whisk attachment this time.  Whip the butter until it’s nice and fluffy. 

Pour in the cooled milk mixture and add the vanilla. 

Then just start mixing.  At first you’re going to have a curdled mess.

But just keep mixing.  We’re talking like high speed for at least 5 minutes.  I actually had to walk away from mine for a bit so it could do its thing without me panicking and hovering.  Eventually, you’ll have this.  A smooth, creamy, and quite frankly, perfect frosting. 

I think the reviews I’ve read were right.  Not only is the flavor and texture of this frosting seriously amazing, but it pipes beautifully. 

Pipe it on or spread it, whichever you prefer, then just top with a fresh raspberry, and you have cupcake perfection. 

These cupcakes are moist and tender, and the slightly tart berries pair perfectly with the sweet frosting.  Seriously divine. 

So what’s the difference between a cupcake and a muffin to you?