November 13, 2008

Dessert Pizza with Caramelized Apples and Almonds


Last month the Daring Baker's challenge left me with 4 balls of pizza dough in the freezer. Soon after the challenge date, I made two more pizzas which were polished off in mere minutes! I decided to attempt a dessert pizza, which many of the DB-ers had chosen to do for the challenge itself. I knew what I wanted in mine - apples and almonds!! Eventhough I've never made caramelised apples before, I took inspiration from a few of the recipes on the net and set out to make my first dessert pizza!

The dough I had left over was somewhat small (not an exact 1/6 division of the actual recipe), so I kept it pretty simple. I didnt use any sauce base (but next time I defintely would brush a bit of the glaze on the crust). The flavors of caramelized apples and almonds blended together to form something amazing! The crust was perfect with a crispy-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside edges, and was a treat by itself because of the glaze brushed on it while baking!! The pizza was not overly sweet and with the apples and glaze was not overwhelming at all, since the dough was not sweetened. My lil one who is rarely willing to try new stuff, was hooked! JM and I enjoyed our share, very much. Our only regret was that the pizza was a small one and it quickly disappeared before our eyes (for bigger crust use more toppings)! For fun, I shaped the crust in the shape of an apple!! Do give this a try and you will be impressed.


Recipe (Makes 1 small pizza) :

Caramelized apple:

Fuji apple - 1 or 1 1/2
Butter - 2 tsp
Granulated sugar - 1 tbsp
Ground cinnamon - 1/8 tsp (optional)

Method:

Peel and core the apple.

Slice the apple into thin slices.

Heat the slices in a saucepan with sugar.

Stir the apples around.

When slightly cooked, add the butter and keep on high heat.

Keep a watch on the apples and stir occasionally.

When the sugar starts to caramelize, stir frequently until the apples are browned.

Toss-in a pinch of ground cinnamon (if using).

Sugar Glaze:

Confectionares sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
Orange juice/ Water - 1/2 tbsp

Mix well and keep aside.

Assembling the pizza:

Caramelized apple - 1 recipe
Sugar glaze - recipe above
Sliced almonds - 2 tbsp

Method:

Preheat the oven to 475F.

If the dough has been frozen, thaw it compeletly in the refrigerator. Proof the dough at room temperature for an hour.

Roll the dough out into a thick crust.

Poke the surface of the crust with a fork.

Spread out the caramelized apples on the pizza crust.

Toss the sliced almonds on top.

Bake in the pre-heated oven.

After about 2 minutes, rotate the pan.

At the 6 minutes mark, generously moisten the edge of the pizza crust with the glaze using a pastry brush.

Bake the pizza for a total of 10-12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Drizzle with sugar glaze if needed.

Serve warm.

Tip:

Next time, I would drizzle the sugar glaze on the crust before spreading the toppings. Because the crust was brushed with the glaze, the crust took on a beautiful golden brown sheen and was crisp and had crystals of baked-on sugar, it was amazing!!!

I am sending my Caramelized Apples and Almonds Pizza to "Eating with the Seasons" event at Maninas: Food Matters.














I received the Good job award from Su of iDayz and Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner, Perfect Blend award from Ramya of Ramya's Kitchen Corner and the Inspiration award from Aartee of Nalabagham. I appreciate your gestures, you girls! Thank you so much.

I would love to pass these on to,

Laavanya of Cookery Corner
Sujatha of Spicy Khazaana
Cham of Spice-club

Enjoy!
PS: If you like my blog, dont forget to update your name on the follower list on the upper right hand of the side bar. My posts are not getting updated on Taste Of India, so make sure that you dont miss any of the posts by subscribing to Tasty treats.

13 comments:

Suganya said...

Hi JZ....
This is so cool. Love dessert pizza a lot. Ur caramelized apples look so mouthwatering. Nice recipe.

Never tried making pizza dough at home. I always get it from the pizza shop. Liked ur pizza dough recipe also. Will try it soon.

BTW.... Congrats on all ur awards. Thank u so much for passing them to me.

Finla said...

The look really delicious. I think it is a wonderful idea to have pizza dough in the freezer.

ranji said...

wow what a cute idea of shaping the pizza into an apple...dessert pizza simply looks divine..i also made dessert pizza..but not with caramelised apples but just using varieties of fresh fruits sliced and arranged on a pizza with chocolate sauce base...congrats on ur awards gal!!!may u have many many more :)

Cham said...

Many times in food tv i saw the dessert pizza spread with nutella... This one sounds cool and i love the almonds on top :)
Congrats on ur award :) and thanks to share with me!

Sujatha said...

I've never heard of this before.. Love the apple shape and looks gorgeous!

Congrats on all your awards and thanks a lot for passing it on to me Jz!

Laavanya said...

Dessert Pizza.. wow! how lovely and it looks absolutely tantalizing.. perfect fall treat too :)

Congrats on your awards dear JZ and thank you for passing them to me.

Srikitchen said...

wow stunning pics and dessert pizza is looking so good
join in the sweet event going in my blog

Deepthi Shankar said...

looks yumm .. apples & almonds.. nice combo

Ivy said...

I never thought of making dessert with pizza dough but I think it is a great idea and the combination of caramelized apples and almonds is great.

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Most delicious looking topping for that pizza. So its a double challenge this month, then.:)

R said...

Congrats dear... its real delish!
Pls check out YAAT post at my blog!
I have something for you...

ranji said...

hey JZ whats up!!!whats keeping u from bloggging!!hope to see u back to a blogging spree soon...take care

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Congrats on your awards and that is a wonderful dessert... firts time here I instantly felt like subscribing to your posts... Lovely collection of recipes too...