Sunday lunch (6/3/11): breaking in the pizza stone edition. Having never baked with a stone, I was curious to see how the pizzas would be different. I was pleasantly surprised to find the outside of the crust crispier than when simply baked on a sheet, while the inside was nice and fluffy. My technique of getting the uncooked pizza from my wooden cutting board turned pizza peel to the stone needs work though. Two of the pizzas ended up with slightly mangled far edges and lost a bit of toppings in the process.

Pizza #1: Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, cremini mushrooms, kalamata olives, fresh thyme, and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Pizza #2: Ricotta cheese, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes in oil, fresh basil, and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Pizza #3: Homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, Aidells Italian-style sausage, bacon.

Pizza #4: Homemade tomato sauce, garlic, sauteed onion, feta cheese.

For dessert, I attempted the almond cake from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf, 2010). The recipe is basically a meringue with a ton of ground almonds and a little bit of flour, turning it into a simple, yet tasty cake. However, I once again learned that having the proper tools is quite helpful. The cake needed to bake in either an 8- or 9-inch springform pan. I had a choice of using a 10-inch springform pan or an 8-inch regular pan. Being tired of my cakes turning out super thin, I opted for the 8-inch. Of course the batter began overflowing and the dessert started looking like a giant mushroom. When I inverted it onto a plate, the center sank in. The whole thing ended up looking like failed volcano science fair experiment. I didn’t deem it worthy of photography.