What happens when I'm stressed:

I bake.

Pizza Hut style pizza.

 A lot.

Chocolate on chocolate cupcakes.

But it's a stress release for me.  Plus, I love to give it all away and share with those I love.  So this weekend I baked SEVERAL Pizza Hut style pizzas.  They were delish.  Yes, I said "they".  (Don't judge me.  I did my exercises.)

I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course), but I'm going to tweak the recipe a bit more.  And when I do, I'll post my changes (of course ;) ).

Naturally, I doubled it.  I mean, hey.  If one pizza is good-- what will a hundred be like?!  But here are my little step by step photos of what happened...

I made the dough in my lovely Kitchen Aid mixer.  (If you've been following my blog, you know how I love that thing!)  I then divided it (the dough) up, rolled it out, and put it in some greased cake pans.  During the rising period, I put plate on top to give the dough that "dipped" contour before topping with yummies.

After allowing the dough to rise (around the plates) for about an hour and a half, I then sauced and topped!

One of the changes I'll make next time:  a little more sauce.

Also, I'll be adding a little more EVOO to the outer crust before baking.

The pizza was yummy.  I'll be trying it again in the near future, I am sure!  Make sure you put enough oil in the pan before you add the dough to give it that "Pizza Hut touch"!  But my family loved it very much! :)

In regards to those chocolate cupcakes...  

Those were divine-- if I do say so myself.  But I must also grudgingly confess that I over-mixed the batter, and they came out denser than I would have liked. *sigh*  I guess I was taking my stress out on the ingredients.  Lol.  But the frosting.  Oh.  The.  Frosting.  Give me a minute, would you? *sigh*  It was just sinful.  As in, you will be willing to do an extra 20 30 45 minutes on the ellipitcal sinfully good.  No, I am serious. 

Rich Fudgy Chocolate Frosting:

Using the paddle of your lovely Kitchen Aid mixer, whip 2 sticks of room temperature butter.  I mean, whip it and whip it good.  (I'm a bit stressed, if you recall)

Add 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 cup Hershey's Dark Chocolate cocoa.

Begin to incorporate on LOW (do you really want that spraying all over your kitchen?!).  It will look very chalky and not at all like frosting of any sort.  Have patience.

While still on low, gradually add in up to 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream.  You want this stuff to still be thick.  And creamy.  And divine.  Add about 2 tsp. vanilla (I love vanilla.  It is perhaps my most favorite thing.  Ever.  I will confess that as a general rule, I always-- and I do mean always-- put in more than a normal person would in any recipe.)  If it is really thick, you can add a touch more cream.  If you've gotten excited and over-poured the cream, don't panic.  Just add a bit more powdered sugar.

Remember that whipping you did at the beginning?  Do it again.  Let that stuff just incorporate and get perfect.  Then you can either eat it with a spoon smear it on your cupcakes or pipe it out, which is generally my preference.  Regardless of what you do with it:  enjoy it! :)