Boston Creme Pie and Pizza Dough

Have I mentioned to you guys how much I  LOVE baking? It just soothes my soul. Granted, I get a little irked when my baked goods don't turn out the way I want, but I just think of it as a learning step of what not to use/do next time. Oh the possibilities of the millions of things to make, it just warms my heart :)

For Valentines day, RJ took me to a fabulous fancy restaurant in Chapel Hill, called Crossroads. It's inside the Carolina Inn hotel and let me tell you it was so perfect. I got all dolled up, it's the least I could do, since it was Valentines day and RJ was taking me out and he surprised me with a bouquet of yellow Tulips (my most favorite flower). I ordered the Bison short ribs with cheesy polenta, broccoli rab and squash, yummmmmy. I couldn't try RJ's dinner but her cleared his plate before I made it through half of mine, so I imagine it was delicious. 

"But why couldn't you eat RJ's food Meghann?" I'm sure you were thinking that... I couldn't try his paella  because it had scallops and mussels in it, and I don't get along well with those bivalves... c'est la vie.

On to what the post is about. For valentines day I made RJ homemade pizza and Boston Creme pie (his favorites). Naturally, the pizzas were heart shaped.

Pizza Dough

3 C.     Flour
1 pkg   Yeast
1TBS  Sugar
1 tsp    Salt
1/2 C   Warm Water
Italian Seasoning

Combine yeast, sugar, salt and water in a bowl, let it to it's thing for about 10 minutes.
Put flour and seasoning in a large mixing bowl and add yeast mixture. Combine by hand. If the dough is too sticky add more flour, if they dough is too crumbly add more water. Once combined place dough ball in a greased bowl. Allow the mixture to rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350. Once dough has risen divide it and roll out,  I rolled mine into hearts, you cans roll yours into whatever shape you want. Transfer it to a greased cooking sheet. Now, you can pre-bake your crust, but I didn't and it tasted just fine. Place your toppings of choice (pepperoni, mushrooms, and banana peppers) and bake until the cheese is all bubbly.


Now I had a little trouble with the creme, for the BCP, so I had to buy a box of vanilla pudding to help me out (boo) I was hoping to make everything from scratch but I just couldn't get the custard to set, so annoying. Never you fear though, I will attempt it again...some day... probably soon. Does anyone know how to make a custard that sets without lumping? I tried two different batches, one seemed a bit lumpy and eggy to me and the other one never set up, it was much too runny.

I'll get to that in a different post. This one is long enough!

Until next time... Piece :)