Master Recipe for Pizza Dough

Name: Master Recipe for Pizza Dough
Yield: Four 7-inch pizza rounds .
Ingredients: 1/2 cup milk, room temperature; 2 tablespoons dry yeast or 1 1/2-ounces fresh yeast; 3 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for kneading; 3/4 teaspoon fine table salt; Cornmeal, for sprinkling

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Level: Easy

Yield: Four 7-inch pizza rounds .

Level: Easy

Yield: Four 7-inch pizza rounds .

Ingredients

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1/2 cup milk, room temperature

2 tablespoons dry yeast or 1 1/2-ounces fresh yeast

3 cups sifted cake flour, plus more for kneading

3/4 teaspoon fine table salt

Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions

In a small bowl or cup combine milk with 3/4 cup water that is warm to the touch (about 125 degrees). Sprinkle dry yeast or crumble fresh yeast over. Stir once and let sit in a warm spot until it foams, 10 to 20 minutes.
In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour with salt. Pour yeast mixture over flour, stirring with a wooden spoon to mix well. Dough will be very wet. Generously flour a work surface and turn out dough. Begin kneading, adding extra cake flour a handful at a time or less, scraping up and turning dough with a dough scraper. You will need about 10 minutes to knead and add flour. Dough is ready when it is smooth, silky and just past stickiness. Do not add too much flour or dough will be very dry. Gather up dough in a ball.
Lightly oil a large bowl, add dough and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature about 2 hours or until doubled. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 4 even pieces. Shape into rough rounds, about 7 inches in diameter, 1/4-inch thick with a 3/8-inch-thick rim. Transfer to pizza peels or baking sheets sprinkled lightly with cornmeal. Cover loosely with towels and let rise 10 to 60 minutes. Top and bake according to recipe instructions.