Making an "alphabet" shaped Pizza. Advice?

December 15, 2012 5:47 PM

Is it possible to make pizzas in the shape of the alphabet?

One of my girlfriend's absolute favorite things in the world is Pizza. Even bad Pizza. So I am planning on proposing marriage to her by taking a day off work, and making a series of tiny "personal" sized pizzas in the shape of the letters "M A R R Y M E ?"

I am blessed with a girlfriend who would not find this method of proposal to be cheesy (no pun intended) or unromantic.

My question is, having never really baked my own pizza before, I was wondering if my plan is even feasible, given the baking qualities of pizza dough. Will the letter shapes shrink or puff up beyond recognition when it bakes in the oven?

I was thinking of shaping the letters using simple shapes similar to the Pac Man font, so as to avoid any possible deformation issues.

Are there any tips or tricks I need to know about making small, shaped pizzas like this? I plan to use pre-made pizza dough (yes, Pillsbury), to minimize the possibilities of epic baking failures . Again, we love good "real" pizza crust, and have stood in line for 45 minutes for slices at Di Fara in Brooklyn...but we also love bad "fake" crusts as well, so please no lectures about the awfulness of frozen pizza dough!

I have a full-sized electric oven, as well as a Cuisinart TOB-195 convection toaster oven at my disposal. I'm also very well versed in non-baking oriented cooking, so complicated prep work, exotic ingredients, etc. are not a problem for me. I just don't have much experience with baking dough and whatnot.

Also any creative ideas on how to present the ring in this context would be appreciated as well.

posted by anonymous to Food & Drink (36 answers total)

I am not a baking expert. My gut says this might be tough. Maybe, instead of forming the letters from dough then baking, make big sheet pizzas, and then cut the letters out of the sheet pizza after it's baked?

Or, spell out your message with toppings?
posted by absquatulate at 5:52 PM on December 15, 2012

Obviously, the ring gets tied to the stem of a glass of red wine.
posted by mollymayhem at 5:53 PM on December 15, 2012

It'll work fine. The pizza dough won't spread much at all, so what you see when you cut it out cold is what you'll get. The hardest part is any thin pieces won't be able to hold much sauce/toppings. (as if you're going to eat it all, but I imagine you'll want it to look pizza-like)

I strongly recommend (if you have the time) is making some test pizzas - get some pizza dough and sauce and practice a few of the tougher letters like the R and E and ? and see how they turn out, you may need to scale the proportions some.

Good luck!
posted by jpeacock at 6:01 PM on December 15, 2012

I agree with absquatulate. Bake first, then cut to desired shape.
posted by gnutron at 6:02 PM on December 15, 2012

If you're not skilled with dough, don't attempt to form the letters pre-baking. Your best best is, as absquatulate said, cut it out of baked dough.

I'd suggest rolling dough out onto baking sheets, docking it so it doesn't puff up in weird places, and parbake just until sufficiently set (3-10 minutes, depending on a lot of factors). Pull the dough off the baking sheet, cut into letter shapes, top, and finish baking until the dough is cooked and the cheese is melted.

Don't try it without experimenting first, on your own, to see how long the dough takes to fully cook and whether anything might go wrong.
posted by WasabiFlux at 6:02 PM on December 15, 2012

If you've never baked pizza before, I can see this going pretty poorly. Granted, I've never used the premade pillsbury stuff, but with my own dough it takes quite a bit of practice to even make the standard circle or rectangle shape. Add to that the standard oven 'spring' and contraction that happens whenever you put bread into an oven, it makes it kind of unpredictable.

"Marry Me" consists of 7 letters. I would go to a shop, by seven small pizzas, then use a pizza cutter to cut out the letters yourself. It couldn't cost you more than 70 bucks I imagine.
posted by Think_Long at 6:03 PM on December 15, 2012

Thin crust pizza dough doesn't spread out much though I've never used Pilsbury just made it from scratch. Cutting the letters out using cookie cutters would work well or with your font just a knife. You could also roll your dough out into long thin strips and then form the letters using the strips (sort of like how a pretzel is made). This would allow for fairly tall letters without an impossible amount of pizza to eat.

When we are wanting quick homemade pizzas we use pitas as the "crust" and then just enough time in the convection oven to melt the cheese.

If you were to size your letters to fit within a pizza box (maybe one of those large 20"+ sizes) you could cut a groove in one of those plastic 3 legged triangles that hold the lid up to stick the ring into.

Finally if homemade isn't part of the appeal or this proposal I'd talk to an independent pizza place and just have them custom make the pizzas for you. I'd bet their wouldn't even be a charge for this besides the costs of the pizzas.
posted by Mitheral at 6:07 PM on December 15, 2012

Not sure if you are planning to do this tomorrow, but if not, why not a trial run. Try shaping the letters and try the big sheet and cutting the letters. Around here, you can buy pre-made pizza dough in both the refrigerated section and frozen section. Real dough, not like the pillsbury stuff. My family has make your own pizza day a lot and shaping dough should not be a problem with the right dough. I would exagerate the letters a little. They can always be cut to size.

I would also consider asking your local pizza place, if you have one, to do this for you. I am sure they could do it well at a cost that makes sense versus the effort you would have to make although I get that part of the charm of it is you doing it yourself.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:12 PM on December 15, 2012

you are probably better off cutting and arranging her favorite toppings into letters and arranging them on one or two pizzas.
posted by royalsong at 6:12 PM on December 15, 2012

You could also do small pizzas and spell out the letters in different ingredients-- cheese, peppers, olives, etc. They won't spread out as much (obviously depends on the cheese) and you could easily do it on a premade crust or even those bagel mini pizzas. Or you could work with a local pizzeria, because this is super adorable and I'm sure they'd be happy to help. Especially if one does pizza a taglio, so that you could spell it out on one long strip.

Tie the ring to a pizza cutter, perhaps? Or as a napkin ring? I also like the wine glass suggestion. Good luck!!
posted by jetlagaddict at 6:15 PM on December 15, 2012

I've never used Pillsbury, but depending on its texture this might work. Once you roll out the dough, cut (with cookie cutters or, for larger letters, a knife) the letters out. You may want to print out the letters onto paper, then cut them out so that you can "trace" them with a knife. Then sauce, and dress with toppings as usual.

For reference, this link may be helpful. (scroll down)

If it turns out the Pillsbury pizza dough doesn't have the right texture for this to work, you may find one of their other varieties (maybe biscuit dough) will work better.
posted by mayurasana at 6:15 PM on December 15, 2012

I would buy pizzas or bake pizzas and then use letter cookie cutters on the COOKED pizza to spell out the proposal. (If you try something else, keep this as the 30-minute Dominos backup plan because it isn't handmade but it will work very very legibly.)
posted by DarlingBri at 6:15 PM on December 15, 2012

You can cut the crusts out of pita bread, which we've used for pizza crust in a pinch. The bread won't shift shape at all. We've put them in the oven at about 350 for 7-10 minutes for quick individual pizzas. I'd cut them out, brush them lightly with olive oil, go light on the sauce, and top as you'd like. They're the right size so you can cook them all at once, too.
posted by BlooPen at 6:30 PM on December 15, 2012

you can totally do this for real no problem. Instead of throwing your dough into a circle roll out a sheet of your pillsbury dough with a pin. Cut the alphabet shapes with a pizza cutter in the uncooked dough. Transfer the letters using your hands and or a spatula to a cookie sheet lined with parchment (or foil in a pinch, but really buy the parchment). I assume the pillsbury crust isn't yeasted so you don't need to proof the dough. Top with crushed tomatoes and cheese and put into a 450-500 degree oven (or whatever temp pillsbury says), and done.

If you wanted to make your dough it wouldn't be that different, although I would let the dough rest between cutting it out and topping and baking.

But this is totally easy and totally doable exactly the way you asked the question. The dough is more stable than I think you think.
posted by JPD at 6:36 PM on December 15, 2012

Buy seven small personal cheese pizzas such as Digiorno or those Red Baron pizzas that come in packs of two. Also buy a small package of pepperoni, then arrange the letters with the pepperoni on each pizza. For the ring, make a trip to Toys R Us and buy a toy pizza set, preferably one that comes with a small pizza box (one the size of a jewelry box). A Barbie-sized pizza box would be perfect. Present the ring to her in the tiny pizza box. Or you might be able to print one out on cardstock yourself and fold it into a little box for the ring. And with the cardstock one, you could make a tiny image on to go on top that has your names as the name of the pizza joint.
posted by Fuego at 6:36 PM on December 15, 2012

You can do this yourself, which would probably be adorable, and if she likes bad pizza, I suppose it'll be fine. She will likely love the effort you put into it.

But I personally would go with the giant pizza from her favorite place that has the words spelled out in pepperoni.

You could even get one of those ridiculously long party pizzas or whatever from Pizza Hut and have them put it on there.
posted by Madamina at 6:44 PM on December 15, 2012

I think you'll have a better, simpler, more elegant presentation by making her a pizza (you can use a premade Boboli crust, it's fine) and writing "will you marry me" on it in pepperoni, olives and peppers. (Obviously toppings go on top of the cheese in this case.)

You can even cut little hearts out of the pepperoni.

Good luck, congratulations!
posted by fingersandtoes at 6:46 PM on December 15, 2012

Buy a pack of Flatout and cut the letters out of that (either freehand or letter cookie cutters), then top and bake.
posted by Daily Alice at 6:54 PM on December 15, 2012

What about cheese breadsticks instead? Like these??

Man if someone got those for me right now I'd marry them on the spot for sure regardless of what they spelled out.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 7:16 PM on December 15, 2012

Breadstick dough, arranged into letters then brushed with tomato sauce and sprinkled with cheese, might be the easiest and most effective way of doing it.
posted by Lexica at 7:22 PM on December 15, 2012

We use flour tortillas when we want some quick-n-easy crispy-crust pizza at home. Those would be very easy to cut into the appropriate letters.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:26 PM on December 15, 2012

Consider buying prebaked crusts such as Boboli and cutting your letters from that. With a prebaked crust, there is no chance that it will spread and ruin your letters.
posted by Talk To Me Goose at 7:35 PM on December 15, 2012

First off, congratulations!

I've never used Pillsbury pizza dough, but I have baked a lot of pizza over the years. I have been able to successfully make pizza in the shape of hearts (though it was thin crust, which I believe is easier to shape) and I feel like what you want to do is totally possible!

Make sure to cut the pieces carefully. If you don't have the capacity to do a test run, I would get extra pizza dough and make multiples of each letter just in case something goes wrong.

I think it would be fun if somehow you were able to put the ring in something that resembles one of those parmesan cheese packets that they give at pizza places. If not that, I agree with whoever upthread that said to tie it around a wine glass.
posted by aaanastasia at 8:23 PM on December 15, 2012

Parbroiled pizza.

Make very thin crusts shaped out of a "thin-crust" style dough. Bake, broil or fry the crusts, remove from heat, and let them cool. Set aside. (You can try shaping them first, or cutting them out of the finished product. Not sure which would work best honestly, make twice as much dough as you need and experiment. Water, yeast, and flour are cheap.

Once all the letters are done add your sauce, toppings, cheese. (Thinly sliced toppings, precooked. Not too much cheese or sauce, be sparing.) Then you toss them in the oven on broil just long enough to brown the cheese.

This is the most foolproof way to do what you want to do. Parbroiled pizza can be totally fantastic, it's easy, and a totally fun and legitimate way to do it. It also minimizes loss if you make a mistake.

Here's a recipe:
http://www.mariobatali.com/recipes_pizzadough.cfm

Might as well do this right, I'd think it's worth the effort.
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:31 PM on December 15, 2012

Yeah, I'd go with either pre-baking a large sheet of crust and cutting the letters out of that or buying pre-made pizzas or crusts and cutting them down. FYI, the "Boboli" brand sells "Party Pack" packages containing eight of their pre-made crusts.
posted by XMLicious at 8:42 PM on December 15, 2012

I would do the shaped, parbaked crust idea but instead of cutting, would use the toppings to make the letters more distinct & "illuminated" then complete the baking.

Really cool idea, by the way.
posted by batmonkey at 9:16 PM on December 15, 2012

Another idea -- do a big, awesome pizza and put on all her favorite toppings, then put over the top of them your shaped letters. You could use the breadstick dough, maybe? Brush that with olive oil or butter with some sea salt. It should stay on top of all the toppings.
posted by amanda at 9:25 PM on December 15, 2012

I frequently buy premade dough in bags from the store... I also know most pizzerias will sell you dough by the pound, if you're interested. As others have said, it won't change shape much when baked.. you can probably get away with more standard-looking letters than the PacMan font if you want.

Just a tip if you do decide to use shaped dough vs. another of these ideas - let the dough come to close to room temp before trying to shape it... it'll try and shrink back onto itself if it's too cold which is really annoying. And obviously flour your work surface/rolling pin if you're using one/hands.
posted by jorlyfish at 9:45 PM on December 15, 2012

we sometimes make pizza on two tortillias with cheese between them. cutting letters out of tortillias would be dead easy

congrats!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:27 AM on December 16, 2012

I think there must be different kinds of pizza dough because there's no way I'd be able to cut my homemade stuff into letter shapes, because it's so springy and changes shape the moment you shape it.

After a few memorable incidents, if you're using raw pizza dough then make sure you have a properly nonstick surface to cook it on, otherwise you'll be tearing your pizzas to pieces.
posted by kadia_a at 2:05 AM on December 16, 2012

One thing is, you might need a little bit more crust (either edge or rolled) than you would think in order to keep your toppings on.

You could order normal round pizzas cut into thin wedges/twice as many slices per pizza and then build the letters similar to this cuneiform font. I think you could get very good sized letters with three medium pizzas.
posted by anaelith at 5:31 AM on December 16, 2012

Spell it with pizza muffins!
posted by thisclickableme at 6:40 AM on December 16, 2012

Congrats!

Pilsbury dough? Make the from scratch if you want her to say yes. It takes five minutes to make, two hours to rise, and has no comparison to anything bought premade from a grocery store. Memail me if you want a recipe.

Arrange cut-into-squares pepperoni into the letters of "MARRY ME" onto your giant pizza. You could also use bell peppers for this. Enjoy?
posted by oceanjesse at 8:43 AM on December 16, 2012

Sorry, I don't know why "Enjoy!" turned into a question.
posted by oceanjesse at 9:07 AM on December 16, 2012

I'm also suggesting pre baking the crust, blank, then cutting. Using one of those boboli pre-cooked crusts from the grocery store or pitas would work too.

Also, you should totally make a ring box out of a green bell pepper. Cut into the top like a jack-o-lantern, scoop out the seeds, and hang the ring on a string you've threaded through the stem, and tied with a bow on top.
posted by fontophilic at 8:31 AM on December 17, 2012

congrats! I can't at all get why people are coming with these complicated answers. It's a great idea and it can't go wrong. When my youngest was in kindergarten, literally all playdates involved pizza-making and pizza-spelling or pizza-design. If 4to5-yo's can manage, so can you.
One tip: wether home-made or store bought dough: roll it out thin before cutting.
All the rest is easy, tray, paper, pizza, filling. Maybe simple versions are easier than those with a lot of filling.

The suggestions that you buy or bake a pizza and cut it afterwards are not sensible.
The suggestion that you ask your local pizza person is excellent. He'll be your friend for decades.
posted by mumimor at 3:54 PM on December 18, 2012