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Sourdough Deep-Dish Pizza in a Cake Pan

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Version 1 · Sep 26, 2026

Sourdough Deep-Dish Pizza in a Cake Pan

Current version

Recorded by Williams family record + completion

What changed

Recovered the cup-based cake-pan formula and added clearly identified working instructions; family testing remains unconfirmed.

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Designed for an all-day sourdough ferment and a standard 9-inch cake pan. The dough should feel soft, like playdough, and receive only a brief knead; overworking it will make the crust chewier and less tender. Build the pizza with cheese against the dough and sauce on top, then bake until the rim and underside are deeply golden. Cool briefly before removing from the pan and slicing.

Ingredients

One 9-inch deep-dish pizza

Check off each item as you go.

Method

  1. Mix the dough

    Combine the flour, cornmeal and salt. Stir together the lukewarm water, active starter, honey and melted butter, then add them to the dry ingredients. Mix until no dry flour remains.

  2. Knead briefly

    Knead for only 1–2 minutes, stopping when the dough is cohesive and feels like soft playdough. Do not develop it as heavily as a conventional bread dough.

  3. Ferment

    Cover and leave at room temperature until visibly expanded and aerated, about 6–8 hours depending on starter strength and room temperature. The dough need not fully double.

  4. Prepare the pan

    Heat the oven to 425°F. Coat the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan generously with the olive oil and butter.

  5. Shape

    Press the dough across the bottom of the pan and approximately 1 1/2 inches up the sides. If it springs back, let it rest for 10 minutes and continue pressing.

  6. Season the sauce

    Combine the well-drained crushed tomatoes with the grated garlic and oregano.

  7. Layer the pizza

    Lay the mozzarella directly against the dough to form a moisture barrier. Add any desired cooked fillings, keeping wet ingredients well drained. Spread the seasoned tomatoes over the cheese and finish with the grated Parmesan or aged cheese.

  8. Bake

    Bake for about 30–35 minutes, until the exposed crust is deeply golden, the sauce is bubbling and the underside is crisp. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil while the crust finishes.

  9. Rest and serve

    Rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges, lift or slide the pizza out, and slice while warm.

Safety & handling

  • Bake until the center is thoroughly hot and any meat toppings are fully cooked; pre-cook raw meat before assembling the pizza.
  • Fresh-garlic infused oil should not be stored at room temperature. Use it promptly or refrigerate it in a covered container.
  • Raw-milk cheese was mentioned only as an optional flavor idea in the source. This recipe does not make any safety assurance about unpasteurized dairy.

Insider tips

  • The pan fat is part of the crust technique: coating both the bottom and sides helps shallow-fry the dough into a crisp golden shell.
  • Keep kneading to 1–2 minutes. The butter-shortened dough is intended to be tender and pastry-like rather than strongly chewy.
  • Place mozzarella directly on the dough and the sauce above it; this protects the crust from moisture and keeps the sauce bright during the longer bake.
  • For a more savory pan oil, gently warm equal parts cultured butter and olive oil with smashed garlic, oregano or thyme, red-pepper flakes and lightly cracked fennel seed for 8–10 minutes over low heat, then strain and cool before use. Avoid browning the garlic beyond pale gold.
  • Fennel seed gives the crust an Italian-sausage-like aromatic note, even when the pizza contains no sausage.
  • Marjoram can supply the remembered bright, slightly floral flavor of pizza-shop cheese bread. If it tastes too sharp, mellow it with more butter, a tiny amount of honey, Parmesan, or a little oregano.
  • If a garlic-herb butter becomes too salty, dilute it with additional unsalted butter; a very small amount of honey can also soften the perception of salt.
  • Serve the finished pizza hot or warm; the butter-rich crust will firm as it cools.

Family notes

  • Heather requested a sourdough deep-dish pizza made in a very well buttered and oiled cake pan.
  • Heather remembered a favorite 1990s pizza-place cheese bread seasoned with marjoram and occasionally uses marjoram on homemade pizza.
  • In Heather's garlic butter, marjoram first tasted slightly sour or bright; after balancing, the mixture then seemed a little too salty.
  • The requested measurement format was cups rather than weights.
  • The family source emphasizes an all-day ferment, a very short knead and a soft playdough-like dough.
  • No completed family bake or tasting result was recorded for this cake-pan pizza.
Sources & what was completed

Record provenanceWilliams family historical source + clearly separated usability completion

Completed for usability
  • The family source preserved the ingredient quantities and core method principles but the full original instruction block was unavailable.
  • The detailed mixing, fermentation, shaping, 425°F baking guidance, estimated 30–35 minute bake, 9-inch pan assumption and resting instructions were completed for usability and are not represented as family-tested history.
  • Optional toppings were left open because the family sources did not specify them.

Recorded by Williams family record + completion on Sep 26, 2026.