You need:

• 1 x 270g pizza dough ball
• Mascarpone cheese
• 100g + 1tbsp caster sugar
• 2tsp vanilla essence
• two ripe pears
• four squares dark chocolate (70%)
• A couple of handfuls of crumble topping

This is a three-stage dessert pizza, and you can prepare most of it in advance, finishing off in the oven just before serving. Top tip: you’re going to want to wait for this to cool a little before you attempt to eat it.

I started by rolling out the dough ball quite thinly to a 30 cm round, and placed it on one of those perforated circular pizza oven trays. I then docked the base and cooked it in a 200°C oven for about 8-10 minutes, until it was still pale but just cooked.

Allow to cool.

Meanwhile, peel the pears and slice them quite thickly. Poach the slices in about 300ml water with 100g caster sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. You want them just soft, not mushy. Carefully remove the slices from the poaching water to drain and set aside.

Put about half a standard tub of mascarpone in a small bowl, add a tbsp of caster sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix vigorously to make a spreadable vanilla cream.

Spread the cream generously on the cooled pizza base and then spread the pear slices evenly over the top.

Break up the chocolate into small pieces and spread them over the pear slices.

The crumble topping (made with butter, flour and sugar, as in a standard fruit crumble) is added later.

To serve hot, slide the pear pizza into a hot oven and keep turning until the edges of the crust are starting to brown and the cream is bubbling. I’m using a back yard wood-fired oven, so this bit is fast. In a kitchen oven, it will take longer and you will only have to turn it if it’s not cooking evenly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Return to the oven until the topping is starting to brown.

This sweet pizza will be scalding hot and the toppings very slippery, but let it cool for a couple of minutes and it holds together perfectly well.