Fairy Bread and Fairy Bread Pizza

Hullo again!

Gah! The end of the year has rolled around again, right under my nose! End of year assessments are nigh, stress is moderately high, and thoughts of Christmas are oh-so tantalising. Christmas is my favourite time of year - and my favourite time for baking!

Sigh. So many goodies to be made, so little time.

On another note: you knew it was coming. Don't pretend to be surprised. The name of my blog is 'the fairy bread chronicles', so obviously I just had to make fairy bread (and a twist on the original too).

Fairy bread is the ultimate symbol of nostalgia for me. I do not know how many pieces of fairy bread I consumed in my childhood, but I know it was (and still is) my absolute favourite party treat. It's just so pretty and colourful! And dead simple to make too.

FAIRY BREAD = THE ULTIMATE FOOD.

End of story. Thank you very much.

On yet another note: Fairy bread is so simple that it pretty much doesn't count as a recipe, so I had a little epiphany that I'm pretty proud of - Fairy Bread Pizza.

I love sweet pizzas. They're playful and fun to eat. So combined with the concept of fairy bread?

Wow. It's the kind of food that I imagine magical creatures like unicorns and gnomes would eat.

First I'll do a little "mini-recipe" for the fairy bread, just in case you have been hiding under a rock and for some reason have no idea what this delicious food is and/or how to make it.

Fairy Bread

Makes as much as you want!

Ingredients:

White bread, sliced

Butter or margarine

Hundreds and Thousands

Method:

Pour as many Hundreds and Thousands out onto a baking tray or large plate of some description., evenly covering the whole surface.

Butter a slice of white bread, spreading right out to the crusts.

Place the slice of bread buttered side down onto the Hundreds and Thousands, and lightly press down to coat the entire buttered surface. Shake off any excess and cut into mini triangles.

:)

Now for the Fairy Bread Pizza.

(Dough adapted from 'Pizza Modo Mio' by John Lanzafame)

Overall recipe product of Angela's brain.

Fairy Bread Pizza

Serves 6 (makes one pizza)

Ingredients:

1 tsp dried yeast

A pinch of salt

100ml warm water

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra

160g plain flour, sifted

1 tbsp brown sugar

300ml good-quality vanilla ice cream

Hundreds and Thousands

Method:

Whisk together the yeast, salt and warm water in a small bowl until just combined. Whisk in the olive oil and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes, until the mixture starts to bubble slightly.

In a large bowl (ideally of a standing electric mixer) place the sifted flour and the mixture, and knead (with a dough hook attachment) for 15 minutes. Alternatively you could knead by hand. The dough should be smooth, not sticky, and elastic.

Rub the inside of a large bowl with a little olive oil, and roll the ball of dough around in it to coat. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave in a calm spot for 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Punch down the dough to get any air bubbles out. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top and knead the dough briefly, so the sugar is evenly spread. Shape and flatten the dough, and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel again, and leave for 15 minutes, or until risen slightly again.

Remove the tea towel and place dough in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let cool until nicely warm, then spread with slightly softened vanilla ice cream and sprinkle with Hundreds and Thousands.

Cut into slices and serve immediately.