I know I had promised you guys a follow-up on Thomas’ birthday cake and pizza and here it is!!  I was so excited about making his mother’s chocolate cake recipe for him and followed the directions to a “T”!  It came out smelling and looking amazing which made me proud.  It was light and airy and smelled of delicious chocolate.  It had a beautiful color and texture and I couldn’t wait to put it on my favorite glass cake stand!  I was impatient in letting it cool so I took it out of the cake pan and placed it on the glass stand to speed up the cooling process.  With my back to the cake while I was making the homemade icing I concocted the week before (which Thomas loved), I heard a crashing sound only to turn around and see the cake stand had cracked under the heat of the cake with pieces of cake and glass all over my counter!  

After assessing the situation, Thomas and I realized we could save the top of the cake without suffering lacerations from the glass!  I was still disappointed but was able to ice the top so at least he could have a partial birthday cake.  I was so disappointed but it tasted just like it looked and smelled…amazing!   So, lesson learned and to all of you…let your cake cool before placing it on glass!

I saved the day by making his favorite pizza…Supreme pizza with extra cheese!  This was so fun to make and my homemade crust turned out really good.  I gave it a rustic look by shaping the pizza crust imperfectly round and layered all his favorite ingredients.  I’m thinking that next time, I might roast the veggies in the oven before adding them to the pizza!

Ingredients:

Pizza toppings:
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup black olives, sliced
3/4 cup pizza sauce (I used canned sauce)
1 cup pepperoni (I used the mini pepperonis)
1/2 pound ground sausage, cooked
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

Cook sausage and drain grease, set aside
While sausage is cooking, dice up red bell pepper, green pepper, olives, onion, set aside
Measure out all other ingredients and set aside

Pizza dough:
1 cup warm water
1 package of active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
3 cups flour

Instructions:

Measure warm water into large bowl
Sprinkle yeast into water until dissolved
Stir in salt, sugar, oil and flour
Stir in additional flour until firm
Turn onto lightly floured board
Knead for 5 minutes
Cover and let rest 10-15 minutes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
With greased fingers, pat dough onto lightly greased baking sheet
Form outside crust with your fingers to be higher than bottom
Put on low oven rack
Bake 10 minutes
Take out and add your sauce and all ingredients, layering as you go
Bake 5 more minutes
Broil 1-2 minutes so cheese is crispy