The Great British Bake Off is one my favorite shows, inspiring new bakes, new flavors, and new techniques! Join me on my journey to bake through all the Season 13 Challenges.
Since replicating Season 8 of the Great British Bake Off wasn’t enough, I decided to try my hand at a different season! This time, I am working on season 13 which is the most recent season! This season had some great bake ideas as well as some not-so-great ones (but we’ll get there when we get there).
So, I figured, let’s do this all again! One of the big challenges I wanted to attempt this time around was coming up with original ideas for the signature and showstopper challenges instead of doing a recreation. On your mark… Get set… Bake!
Week Three is Bread Week! The dreaded Bread week of Paul Hollywood. But this bread week felt a little weird because there were no real pure bread challenges. The three challenges included pizza, pain aux raisins, and a smorgastarte (which is a whole… thing). But we’re going through the challenges so let’s start with the signature: pizza!
The Pizza challenge was about creating two different pizzas that had a unique flavor. Potential something that the judges had not seen before. Or the classics done to perfection. We make a lot of pizza in our house, so I know that pizza and perfection rarely go hand in hand.
And yea, I had some hiccups in this challenge but nothing that couldn’t be fixed (in one way or another). I decided to make some more unique toppings that I had not seen before and tried my own take on a recipe for the dough!
Check out the Season 13 Great British Bake Off Page to see other bakes from this series or the Make section for more recipes! Leave a comment below and let me know what you think and how the recipe works for you!
Ingredients
When it comes to making pizza dough, there are four core ingredients: flour, yeast, salt, and water. It’s the same as the core ingredients for making bread. Go figure. The ratio is what really matters here.
For the toppings I decided to go with two different ideas for pizza: a smoked salmon pizza and a brussels sprout pizza. I don’t feel like I normally see these ingredients on top of the pizzas where I am from. And it seemed fun to try!
Process
Making the Dough
The dough is the first step because it will take the longest time to complete. The yeast will need time to activate and rise. For this dough, I used a food processor to help blitz all of the ingredients together, but this step can be done by hand or in a mixer (both require a bit more effort).
To start I added flour which was half all-purpose flour and half bread flour to the food processor. The bread flour has a higher protein content which adds more strength to the dough. Then I added in the dry-active yeast, salt, and olive oil. I blitzed everything together into a crumbly texture.
Then I added in the water and blitzed the ingredients together to make a sticky dough. I dumped the dough out of the food processor and kneaded the dough together into a ball. I put the ball into a bowl lined with olive oil and sealed the bowl in plastic.
The dough was placed in a warm area and allowed to rest for about one to two hours. I didn’t count the exact time, I just waited for the ball to double in size. While the dough was rising, I moved on to make my toppings.
The Sauce
The key to any good pizza is the sauce. Or at least that’s the absolute truth in my world. There are many different types of sauces that can be used for pizza. You can cook the sauce, you can leave it raw, you can add different spices. Plenty to play with.
I wanted to keep my sauce simple, so I used the base of San Marzano crushed tomatoes and kept it raw. San Marzano tomatoes make the best pizza sauce, and I would highly recommend that brand of tomatoes for most anything. For the spice, I added sugar, chili powder, and salt. Simply but flavorful!
The Salmon Pizza
The salmon pizza was one I was very excited about and the one that went a little sideways while being cooked. First, I started with the dough. I dusted the pizza peel with semolina flour to help keep the dough from sticking (more on that later). Then I spread out the pizza dough into a circular shape. I like rolling the dough over my knuckles and letting gravity do most of the work.
Then I added the sauce. I spread it out thin since I also wanted the dough to be thin. But I could have added more. After that, I sprinkled the cheese over the whole pizza. Now this is normally where I would stop if I was just making pizza on a normal day. But this is Bake Off! We have to make it a bit more complicated!
So, I decided to layout some smoke salmon in a starburst pattern. I thought it looked pretty like this. Then I added the olives and onions in between the salmon starburst so that salmon stayed showing. After that it was time to transfer the pizza into the oven and this is where everything went wrong.
The pizza was so heavy that the dough got stuck to the peel. The semolina helped but did not completely do its job of keeping the dough from sticking. I probably should have also dusted the peel with flour to help cover all of the base.
With the pizza rapidly falling apart, and major holes coming up in the crust, I made a rapid decision. Fold the pizza in half. Everything was crumbling and a calzone was the only answer. So, while it may not have been a traditional pizza anymore, it still tasted delicious.
The Brussels Sprout Pizza
Determined to have learned my lesson from the first pizza, I moved onto the brussels sprout pizza. However, there was one step I needed to take before making the pizza. I needed to cook the brussels sprouts. I put a little bit of olive oil into the pan a heated it up.
Then the brussels sprouts, red onions, and a little bit of salt go into the pan! I like to sauté them until the brussels sprouts are soft. Then It’s time to make the pizza. Again, I started with the dough using the same method as above. Then the sauce, cheese, and scatter the brussels sprouts over the top.
I used a wooden pizza peel, more semolina, and more flour to prevent sticking. Apparently, the wooden peel sticks less than the metal pizza peel. And it did work! The pizza came out really well, and looked like a pizza so I would count that as a success!
Reflections
I felt weird about the challenge because pizza didn’t really feel like bread. And this is bread week. But that aside, pizza is very difficult! I knew that it was difficult, but I’m always surprised by the challenges that pizzas bring. But I really enjoyed these pizzas.
The pizzas felt different from anything that I had eaten before. And they were absolutely delicious! I really enjoyed the flavor of these pizzas and the crispiness of the dough. Even with the weird calzone pizza turned out well in taste, even if they didn’t come out exactly as desired
Lessons
Being Flexible
It’s hard to take on the challenges that randomly come up during baking. Especially when they feel like they should be under your control. Like a pizza transferring poorly into an oven. Being open to being flexible is very important in baking. And very difficult for me to do.
But solutions are always available, and the food will typically taste delicious even if it doesn’t look like the most amazing piece of art.
recipe
Salmon Pizza and Brussels Sprout Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 1 ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ Cup Bread Flour
- 2 Teaspoon Dry-Active Yeast
- 2 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Water
Sauce
- ½ Can (16 Oz.) San Marzano Crushed Tomatoes
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- ½ Tablespoon Chili Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
Smoked Salmon Pizza Toppings
- 4 Ounce Smoke Salmon
- ¼ Cup Sliced Black Olives
- ¼ Cup Red Onions diced
- ¼ Cup Mozzarella low-moisture
- Semolina & Flour for dusting
Brussels Sprout Pizza Toppings
- 2 ½ Cup Brussel Sprouts quartered
- 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- ¼ Cup Red Onions diced
- ¼ Cup Mozzarella low-moisture
- Semolina & Flour for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500° Fahrenheit approximately two hours before cooking the pizza.
Pizza Dough
- In a food processor, blitz together flour, yeast, salt, and olive oil until a crumb like texture is formed
- Slowly add water and blitz until the ingredients come together as a sticky dough. Knead and shape into a ball
- Place the dough ball in a bowl lined with oil. Cover the top with plastic and set in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size (approximately one to two hours)
- Divide dough in half and let rest for 20 minutes.
Sauce
- Mix together crushed tomatoes, sugar, chili powder, and salt
Smoked Salmon Pizza
- Dust the pizza peel with semolina or flour. Take one ball of dough and shape it into the desired circle on a pizza peel
- Spread out a thin layer of the sauce, sprinkle the cheese to adequately cover the pizza’s surface
- Cover the pizza with salmon, red onions, and olives as desired
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly
Brussels Sprout Pizza
- In a shallow pan, heat up olive oil. Cook halved Brussel sprouts and diced onion until soft
- Dust the pizza peel with semolina or flour. Take one ball of dough and shape it into the desired circle on a pizza peel
- Spread out a thin layer of the sauce, sprinkle the cheese to adequately cover the pizza’s surface
- Cover the pizza with brussels sprouts as desired
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly