The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pizza
The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pizza - A homemade pizza crust is topped with mascarpone cheese, tart apples, nutty brown sugar and cinnamon streusel, and drizzled with salted caramel and white chocolate. Make a savory pizza with the second half of the crust recipe, and have an awesome pizza night!
Recipe and lots more over at The Alchemist.
The Ultimate Caramel Apple Pizza
adapted from Guy Fieri's Candied Apple Pizza in Better Homes and Gardens Magazine
To make it easier on yourself you can purchase a ball of pizza dough, (Trader Joe's sell them for a dollar-ish), and you can buy premade caramel, if you do, buy one of quality, and add a little salt if you wish to make it salted caramel.
To make a savory pizza, make the dough as instructed, top with sauce and your favorite toppings and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about 20-22 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.
This dough recipe makes enough for 2 thin (or regular) crusts. Use the second half to make a savory pizza to have a pizza night. I doubled the recipe below and made a thick crust pizza by using a full recipe of dough, (or both halves.) And then I used half of the other portion to make this apple pizza, and froze the other portion.
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
This dough recipe makes enough for 2 apple pizzas.
Also note the pizza dough has a rising time of an hour and a half, so keep that in mind when planning.
2 1/2 cups (250 g.) flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast (or 2 packets)
2 tsp. sugar
2 Tablespoons of olive oil, plus more to grease bowls
1 cup (8 oz) (237 ml.) water, warm to the touch
For Pizza Topping
2-3 tart apples, sliced thin
1 cup, 8 oz. (226 g.) mascarpone cheese
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
about 1 cup (8 oz.) (237 ml.) Caramel Sauce - either homemade, I used the caramel recipe from my Vanilla Cinnamon Poached Pears with Spiced Caramel Recipe, or good quality store bought
For the streusel
3 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup (60 g.) packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (90 g.) chopped pecans or another type of nut
1 cup (200 g.) good quality white chocolate chips, melted according to package directions OR use good quality white chocolate, chopped - optional
Directions
Start by making dough.
Stand Mixer directions: Dissolve the sugar in warm water in the bowl of the stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let stand for 10 minutes till foamy. Add olive oil and salt to the yeast mixture then use the dough hook to mix in the flour. Mix until the dough comes together, add more flour as needed to allow the machine to knead the dough until smooth. (At this point I needed to add more flour to make the dough come into a ball.) When it's come together and not too sticky, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 2 minutes more, the dough should not be sticky at this point.
By Hand: Dissolve the sugar in warm water in a large bowl and sprinkle yeast on top, let stand 10 minutes until foamy. Stir in the flour, add more if needed, it shouldn't be sticky, and knead the dough on a floured surface for about 5 minutes, until the dough is springy and not sticky.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and turn to coat surface, cover bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place till it's doubled, about an hour.
Turn dough onto a floured surface again. divide in half and form into 2 smooth tight balls. Place each ball in its own bowl and let rise, covered for a second rise for 30 minutes.
In the meantime, in a small bowl mix the mascarpone cheese with the vanilla and the powdered sugar, set aside.
In a large bowl place the sliced apples with the lemon juice and toss to coat.
Make the streusel. In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Stir in pecans.
When ready to use, press one ball of the dough with fingers to flatten as much as possible. Drape dough over hands, stretching to desired size and thickness. (Mine was about a 12 inch pizza) Place dough on floured pizza peel or cutting board (I just prepared my pizza directly on my pizza stone.) The other ball of dough can be used for a savory pizza, or another sweet pizza, or you can wrap it well and freeze it.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, 230 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 8.
Parbake the pizza crust by cooking it in the preheated oven for about 6-8 minutes with no browning. When done, set aside to cool a bit. When the pizza crust has cooled, spread the mascarpone mixture evenly onto the crust. Top with thinly sliced apples, then top with streusel, then caramel. Melt the white chocolate chips according to package directions, (or alternately, use chopped white chocolate and sprinkle it on the top.) Drizzle the melted white chocolate onto the top (if using.)
Bake on a pizza stone or on a baking sheet for about 10-12 minutes, until the crust is lightly brown and everything has melted nicely.