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Step 6Baking
In my wood fired oven, i heat the oven, so the oven floor is 350 C / 660 F hot.
In the electric oven, it is important to use a pizza stone.
My electric oven goes up to 300 C / 570 F and needs about 30 minutes to preheat.
In order to get a decent bake on the underside of the crust, use the lower heater.
Before i shove the Flammkuchen into the oven, i jerk the peel forth and back in short motions, to make sure it will come free from the peel.
Then i shove it into the oven, by jerking out the peel.
After about 5 minutes in the wood oven, the Flammkuchen is done.
In the electric oven, it takes around 10 minutes. But this can be different in your oven.
It's a good idea to lift it, to see if it's done. You should see brown spots on the underside of the crust.
I only made 2 of the 4 portions yesterday. I slightly oiled the 2 dough balls and put them separately into plastic bags in the fridge.
Since not everyone has a wood fired oven, i want to show you how they come out of a electric oven.
I have added some commented photos of it.
I want to stress again, that a pizza stone is really important for a crunchy fully baked crust.
Special variation with smoked salmon:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Pizza-Salmone/
Link to my pizza oven instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-Pizza-Oven/
In the electric oven, it is important to use a pizza stone.
My electric oven goes up to 300 C / 570 F and needs about 30 minutes to preheat.
In order to get a decent bake on the underside of the crust, use the lower heater.
Before i shove the Flammkuchen into the oven, i jerk the peel forth and back in short motions, to make sure it will come free from the peel.
Then i shove it into the oven, by jerking out the peel.
After about 5 minutes in the wood oven, the Flammkuchen is done.
In the electric oven, it takes around 10 minutes. But this can be different in your oven.
It's a good idea to lift it, to see if it's done. You should see brown spots on the underside of the crust.
I only made 2 of the 4 portions yesterday. I slightly oiled the 2 dough balls and put them separately into plastic bags in the fridge.
Since not everyone has a wood fired oven, i want to show you how they come out of a electric oven.
I have added some commented photos of it.
I want to stress again, that a pizza stone is really important for a crunchy fully baked crust.
Special variation with smoked salmon:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Pizza-Salmone/
Link to my pizza oven instructable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-Pizza-Oven/
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I became obsessed with Flammkuchen while living in Baden a few years ago, and I've made a bunch of different versions. This one is excellent!
Here's a few things of learned -
1) It might upset purists, but I've found that if you're short on time, uncooked flour tortillas are a good solution for the crust. Because they're so thin, they get nice and crispy, and cook time is very short.
2) It can be very hard to get Quark, and to a lesser extent, Creme Fraiche in my area. I've experimented to find a good replacement using more readily available ingredients - Greek Yogurt, Creme Cheese, Sour Cream, etc.
I've been really pleased with a "base" using 2 parts Philadelphia Cooking Creme (it's a sort of thin cream-cheese variation) and 1 part Sour Cream, to give it a more "quarky" vibe.
Maybe not totally authentic, but nice if you need to scratch that Flammkuchen itch.
Viel Spass!
It's quite a while, that i was there. (Salt Lake to work, Park City to ski...)
Last week i drove through Flammkuchen-country. From Basel through the Elsass over the Vosges and on to Brussels.
Regarding the recipe, it's almost too simple to mention. (But thanks, anyway)
Sometimes, the simple things are the best.
Try some thyme, besides salt and pepper.
For the crust, i really invested some time into enhancing it, since i wrote this ible.
I'm finally making it with a very mild (french) sourdough culture, that i ordered in the U.S.
I gave that a try, after reading this page:
http://varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm
It really knocks your socks off, and the dough is much easier to form/stretch.
There certainly are substitutes for the dairy ingredients i use. (Switzerland is somewhat of a dairy-heaven..) I live in a small town of only 11k, but i can buy that stuff in at least 6 shops.
There are other things, that are harder to obtain locally...
As for a puristic or authentic Flammkuchen, i don't think there is such a thing. There are many variants. (Try one in Baden ,Ulm or Colmar, they will almost certainly be different, but yummy nonetheless.)
There is no right or wrong, only your taste should decide.
Keep on baking!