Did anyone else watch the 2021 Junior Bake Off? If not, you should definitely try and watch it on catch-up, those kids are truly amazing! I can’t believe how good some of them are at baking when they are only 10-15 years old! I was nowhere near as good at that age! Anyway, the junior bakers are always asked to complete a technical challenge, and one challenge set by Liam was to make a Pizza Star Bread.
The baker’s recipe for Pizza Star Bread called for a quick dough made from self-raising flour and yoghurt (similar to my 2-Ingredient Naan Breads). I really liked the look of this recipe and the flavour combinations but opted to make a yeasted dough (slightly more time consuming) which is what I did when I made a similar version of this recipe: Pesto Star Bread. So let’s get started.
How to make Pizza Star Bread – Dough and Shaping
This Pizza Star Bread may look like it’s really difficult to make, but it is actually a lot easier than it looks! Once you know how the shaping works and the “magic” is removed, you’ll actually see that it’s quite easy.
For the dough, I used the same recipe I used for my Pesto Star Bread. It’s a very basic bread dough made from strong bread flour, fast-action dried yeast, salt, a little oil and water. Make sure you add the salt and yeast to opposite sides of the bowl when weighing out the ingredients to prevent the salt from killing the yeast. I usually add them to opposite sides on top of the flour, and then mix them into the flour a little on their respective sides before adding the liquid. Whilst it’s best to knead the dough by hand and get a feel for it, you can also use an electric hand-held or free-standing mixer to knead the dough.
After the first prove, the dough is layered with the fillings and shaped into a star before it’s second prove. I have explained the shaping process in the methods section below, but as a picture says more than a thousand words, I’d recommend you go and check out my step-by-step picture guide in my Pesto Star Bread recipe here to see how it’s done!
Pizza Star Bread Fillings and Dips
There are two fillings for the Pizza Star Bread: Homemade Green Pesto and a Tomato Sauce. Homemade pesto is the best thing ever, and whilst you could always use shop-bought pesto, I would highly recommend trying to make your own instead! It’s very easy to make, all you do is purée together some basil, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil! Check out my recipe for a basic Homemade Green Basil Pesto here for more information.
Then, Liam’s original recipe contained another stroke of genius: Green Pesto Aioli! Adding green pesto to make an aioli is a real game changer and I will definitely be making this dip on other occasions now, too!
The second filling is a basic tomato sauce made from tomato purée and passata, seasoned with some oregano to give it that classic pizza flavour. Finally, mozzarella cheese is added into the layers as well! I added a little more cheese than the original recipe called for (totally worth it) and it is important that you use the pre-grated mozzarella for this recipe. That’s because it has been coated in a little flour to prevent it from sticking and is a little “drier”. Mozzarella cheese sliced from a ball would probably be too wet in this recipe and would also make the Pizza Star Bread a lot harder to shape.
Other Great British Bake Off-Inspired Recipes
Whereas this Pizza Star Bread is more “inspired-by” Junior Bake Off rather than me actually sticking to the main recipe (which I really haven’t very much, haha), I do do that for the Great British Bake Off Technicals. I have set myself the challenge to attempt all GBBO Technical Challenges, and those I do try and follow to a T, resisting the urge to change things up. If you are interested in some of those recipes, you can check them out here:
- Mary Berry’s Religieuses
- Mary Berry’s Fraisier Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Hand-raised Chicken, Bacon and Apricot Pies
- Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart with feathered Icing
- Paul’s Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
- Mary Berry’s Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Cottage Loaf
- Mary Berry’s Homemade Jaffa Cakes
- Paul Hollywood’s Wagon Wheel Biscuits
- Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Mini Pork Pies
- Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
- Prue’s Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Tarts (S2UC Special)
- Pizza Star Bread (Junior Bake Off)
- Mary Berry’s Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake
- Paul’s Crusty White Cob
- Paul Hollywood’s Rainbow Bagels
- Prue Leith’s Malt Loaf
- Paul’s Jammy Biscuits
- Paul Hollywood’s Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks with Homemade Tzatziki
- Prue Leith’s Sticky Toffee Puddings with Sesame Tuiles
- Prue Leith’s Prinzregententorte
- Paul Hollywood’s Baklava (22cm)
- Paul’s Caramel Biscuit Bars (Twix)
- Prue Leith’s Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Prue’s Sablé Breton Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Sticky Belgian Buns
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Prue’s Garibaldi Biscuits with Feathered Chocolate Icing
- Paul Hollywood’s Pain au Raisins
- Paul’s Spicy Beef Tacos
- Paul Hollywood’s S’mores
- Prue Leith’s Pistachio Praline Ice Cream Cones
- Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts
- Paul Hollywood’s Devonshire Splits
More Bread Recipes
As anyone who has been to my blog before will know, I am absolutely obsessed with baking bread. It is probably one of my favourite things to make – I just LOVE it! Great to make, even better to eat, and I have lots more recipes on my blog for you to try out. Check out some of my favourites below!
- Crusty Sourdough Loaf
- Wholemeal Sourdough Baton
- Seeded Sourdough Bread
- Rye Sourdough Loaf
- German “Laugenbrezeln” (Pretzels) | German Baking Classic
- “Muntermacher” | Mixed Seed and Carrot Bread
- 3-day Crusty French Baguettes (totally worth it!)
- Italian Rosemary Focaccia Bread
- Pesto Star Bread
- German “Bauernbrot” | German Baking Classic
- Cheddar Cheese and Chive Soda Bread
- Twist Bread – 3 Ways (plain/seeded, black olive, rosemary & sundried tomato)
- Pumpkin Seed Sourdough
- Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks (with homemade Tzatziki) | Bake Off Technical Challenge
Pizza Star Bread with Pesto Aioli | Junior Bake Off Technical
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH:
- 300g strong white bread flour
- 7g (1 sachet) dried fast-action yeast
- 7g fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little extra for kneading
- 170-180ml lukewarm water
FOR THE HOMEMADE PESTO:
- 50g fresh basil
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic
- 10g (1 tbsp) pine nuts, toasted
- Salt and pepper
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE:
- 3 tbsp passata
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- Salt and pepper
- Dried oregano
TO ASSEMBLE:
- 120g Mozzarella cheese, pre-grated
FOR THE AIOLI:
- Remaining homemade pesto (roughly 1 tbsp)
- 50g mayonnaise
- 30g Greek yoghurt
- Black Pepper
- Small garlic clove, minced (or garlic granules), if necessary
Method:
- To make the dough, combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and add about 150ml of the water. Start mixing everything together with your hands to form a dough, adding the remaining water a little at a time if needed.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is stretchy and smooth. Return the dough to the lightly oiled bowl, cover, and leave to prove for about an hour or until doubled in size.
- In the meantime, prepare the pesto. Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (no oil) set over a medium-high heat. Move the pine nuts around and keep your eye on them as they will burn quickly! Then put all of the ingredients into a small food processor and blitz until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper (check out my basic recipe here for more tips).
- To prepare the tomato sauce, simply mix together the passata, tomato purée and oregano and again season with a little salt and pepper.
- Prepare a large baking tray by lining it with baking paper.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, tip it onto a lightly floured work surface and use your knuckles to press down and know out some of the air. Then evenly divide the dough into three balls.
- Roll out the three pieces of dough into round disks until about 0.5cm thick, using a dinner plate as a rough guide for size. Place one disk of dough onto the prepared baking tray and spoon the homemade pesto onto the middle, reserving roughly 1 tablespoon for later. Spread the pesto over the dough in an even layer, leaving about 1cm free around the edges. Then sprinkle over roughly half of the grated mozzarella cheese.
- Take the second disk of dough and place it on top. Spread over the tomato mix in the same way as the pesto and distribute the remaining cheese on top. Then place the final piece of dough on top.
- Place the lid of a small jar, a round biscuit cutter or a small glass into the middle of the bread to help you keep the middle bit free. Then cut the dough into 16 equal portions from the edge of that guide in the centre to the outside of the bread. I usually cut it into quarters, then cut the quarters in half and then each bit in half again. Then take two “strips of the dough and twist them twice, one in a clockwise and one in an anti-clockwise fashion, then pinch together the ends to form the point of a star. Repeat 7 more times to create an 8-point star (check out this recipe here for a step-by-step picture guide on assembly and shaping).
- Leave the dough to prove for another half hour until risen and puffy.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Bake the Pizza Star Bread for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown and crispy, covering it with tinfoil after roughly 20 minutes if it is browning too quickly.
- Whilst the Pizza Star Bread is baking, you can prepare the pesto aioli. Simply mix the reserved pesto, mayonnaise and Greek yogurt together until fully combined. Taste, and add a little more crushed fresh garlic or garlic granules if necessary, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Remove the Pizza Star Bread from the oven and slide onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm or cold with the green pesto aioli, a fresh green salad or a bowl of soup!
