Trying to get a fluffy and light Dessert Pizza Dough

[Ziggie]

Our dessert dough is quite dense and not fluffy as we would like it.

Here is the recipe.
3 tbsp salt
2 liter water
1/2 liter dough start
4 lbs high gluten flour
2 1/4 lbs all purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 tsp yeast
1 stick butter melted.

Mix for 9 minutes adding the butter halfway through.

The dough seems fine once initially mixed and.portioned but gets really stiff as it sits in the refrigerator. It takes several hours to proof as well and the end result is a product that is hard and dense instead of light fluffy and chewy. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[wa_dave]

We have a decent dessert pizza trade using our normal dough mix. Where we use 190gm for a 10" pizza base for the dessert ones we rollout at 320gm
It is thicker and comes up good when topped and cooked. Fairly light as the base expands upwards when cooking.
We roll out the bases onto screens during pr screens on a rack covered with a garbage bag, This keeps them moist but also expands the dough
Worth a try rather than making a separate batch for the smaller amount you would sell
Dave

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

I can understand your dilemma. Your dough absorption in only 35.2%, good for making a thin cracker type crust but that’s about where it ends. I make a great dessert crust using nothing but a regular pizza dough formula;
Flour: 100%
Salt: 1.75%
Sugar: 2%
IDY: 0.4%
Butter flavored Crisco: 2% (use your regular oil if you wish)
Water: 58%
Mix and manage the dough in your normal manner, open into a skin by hand to retain as much of the entrapped gas in the dough as possible, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture, add???/ I use pieces of fresh fruit and berries but a very good friend of mine used well drained fruit cocktail, add some streusel and bake just as you do your regular pizzas. Allow to cool for a few minutes, add string icing (powdered sugar + water and just a “kiss” of salad oil mixed until smooth and just thin enough to be barely poured, transfer to plastic squeeze type condiment bottles and squeeze onto the warm pizza in a cross-hatch pattern, store icing AT ROOM TEMPERATURE, if it should get too stiff just place it in warm water for 30-minutes. These pizzas can be served hot/warm or cold or with a scoop of ice cream.
If you want to go “full Monte” brush the skin with melted butter, then spread on a thin cheese mixture: 16-ounces of cream cheese, 8-ounces powdered sugar: Blend together until smooth. Add 100-grams whole egg and blend in until smooth. Add 16-ounces each of sour cream and Ricotta cheese and blend in until smooth. The mixture should have the consistency of mayonnaise. If it needs to be thinned use a small amount of cream to thin it. Apply the cheese mixture as you would a red sauce but don’t apply it too thick (thin is better). I believe this formula might be in the RECIPE BANK too. Made with the cheese base this dessert pizza takes on the life of a rich cheese danish.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

 

[durbancic]

Tom, what is your recipe for the icing? We buy a pre-made icing that we add water to thin it out, but I would like to make it in house (to save a bunch of $$$). Is it just powdered sugar, water and oil? How about vanilla? Most recipes I see online use milk, but we couldn’t do that and store it at room temp.

 

[Tom_Lehmann]

Powdered sugar-water icing is nothing more than just that. I normally use a large stainless steel bowl and a hand whisk to make my icing in large quantity. Begin by putting 8-ounces of warm water in the bowl and begin adding powdered sugar while whisking until you achieve a very thick mass (too thick to use the whisk, so now it’s time to change over to a strong metal spoon to stir the icing. You know you have the right consistence when you lift the spoon from the icing and it forms a string.
You can add a small amount of salad oil (NOT OLIVE OIL), about 1-ounce per gallon of icing. If you add too much the icing will remain sticky instead of setting-up properly. Vanilla is also optional, since there is vanilla, artificial vanilla, and just about every strength (fold) of each that you can think of I can’t say how much to use but you don’t need very much, it’s not like the icing is going to have a great influence over the product, as long as it’s sweet tasting is all that your customers will be concerned about.
IMMEDIATELY after making the icing transfer it to plastic condiment bottles (you will need to cut the tip of each bottle to get the string size you want). No need to refrigerate, IF it should get too thick just place in a warm water bath and you’re good to go.
NEVER thin an icing with water, instead use a simple syrup to thin out any icing. To make a simple syrup just add 2-parts sugar and 1-part water to a pan, bring to a full boil (it will be clear, like water at that time), remove from heat, allow to cool for a short time ad add to any icing to thin it out. You can use this syrup just as it is after cooling too. BUT remember, if you over thin an icing it will look more like a donut glaze than an icing and it will set-up to a translucent color rather than white, additionally, over thinned icings may take longer than normal to set-up or they may remain sticky rather than setting-up dry.
Did your mother ever make an iced angel food cake at home? If she did she used a powdered sugar-water icing.
Making your own icing is as easy as boiling water but a lot safer.
Oh yes, one other thing, if your icing is lumpy after you’re finished making it DON’T try to mix the lumps out! Just take a break for 5-minutes or so, and stir once again and the lumps will be gone and the icing will be smooth.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor