Fruit Pizza

 Fruit Pizza

This recipe is based on one that my mother, Tina Best, always made for events such as my best friend Amy (Myerscough) Schultz's parents annual 4th of July party! Mom would make the crust and fruit dip layer and I would design the fruit layer. I've improved upon the original crust(canned roll of premade sugar cookie dough) and now use an old German sugar cookie recipe that I got from my friend Tina Bourque. I use a nonstick silicone tart mold given to me by my mother-in-law Barbara Hannah, instead of a disposable pizza pan.  For really huge parties, like my kids joint birthday party last year, I made two in  jelly roll pans, made fruit salad and just dumped it evenly on top. (I'm not up to designing a huge rectangular fruit pizza lol!)  This is a time consuming recipe, because of the amount of time it takes to cut up all of the fruit into similar sized pieces and how long it takes to create the design.

Tools:

1) 11" Nonstick Silicone Tart Pan, Pizza Pan or Jelly Roll Pan

2) Mixer

3) Lots of Bowls or Tupperware to separate the fruit

4) Decorative Plate (If using a silicone tart pan)

5) Large Bowl or Container for the leftover fruit salad

 

Ingredients:

1) 1 Egg

2) 1 cup Sugar (I have used Stevia and Splenda before to cut sugar at least in the crust)

3) 2 cups Butter, softened (not melted)

4) 3 cups Flour (I've experimented with Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, White Whole Wheat Flour, Spelt Flour and even Gluten Free Flour Mix so far. Any will work, but the crust after baking varies color, texture and density wise)

*** You can substitute a canned roll of Sugar Cookie Dough for the above ingredients but it isn't anywhere near as decadent!

5) 8oz package Cream Cheese

6) 1 cup Powdered Sugar

7) 1 tsp Vanilla

8) Fruit... 1 tub Strawberries, 1 Pineapple, 8 Kiwi, 1 package red or green seedless Grapes, 2 tubs each of Blueberries, Raspberries and Blackberries and 2 large cans of Mandarin Oranges (Seasonal fruit availability varies, especially with the berries, so use whatever is available from this list, but I don't recommend Bananas, Apples or freshly peeled Citrus as substitutes)

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350F.

2) In the mixer, blend the Egg, Sugar, Butter and Flour until smooth. spread evenly into the silicone tart pan or greased pizza or jelly roll pan, bake until a toothpick pulls out clean from the center, and set aside. (If using regular flour, the crust will be mostly white with slightly golden edges and other flour will be more golden with light brown edges. DO NOT OVERBAKE!)

3) Look at the above picture to see how I prepare my fruit for the design. When I cut the Strawberries I usually get two middle slices and 2 ends(I throw the ends directly into the fruit salad bowl). I use a carrot peeler on the Kiwi, I halve the Grapes, wash all of the Berries, drain the Mandarin Oranges and try my very best to come out with identical Pineapple wedges. (Jeremy has become my fruit preparing helper, while Alex and Heidi supervise and sneak quality control samples lol!) As I prepare the fruit I separate all of the fruit into individual bowls for easy decorating!

4) If you used a silicone tart pan, you will need to place your decorative plate on top of the fruit pizza and flip very gently, trying not to break the crust.

5) In the mixer, whip together the Cream Cheese, Powdered Sugar and Vanilla to make the fruit dip and spread evenly on the cooled crust.

6) Decorating wise, I sit at the kitchen table like an artist with my multicolored palette of fruit bowls around me, and get down to work. I place one berry in the exact center, then decorate the outer edge, with alternating Kiwi, Blueberries and Mandarin Oranges. From there I work both from the inside out and the outside in, until they meet in a pleasing way. (Every fruit pizza I make has a different design, so that is why I take pictures every time I make one!)

7) In a large bowl or container, mix all of the leftover fruit together, to accompany the fruit pizza to the party! (A lot of people like to spoon more fruit onto their fruit pizza slices and everyone else enjoys such a quality fruit salad!)

8) Serve and enjoy! :)

Thoughts... This is one of my signature recipes that I make for parties! It always goes over well and some of my friends tease me when they say they only came for the fruit pizza!  If there are any leftovers, they are great with coffee for breakfast!

Comments... Originally, I used to make this in a disposable tin pizza pan so I wouldn't have to worry about remembering to bring a dish home, but I can't find them at any of the stores any more. Maybe I need to order in bulk online and just store them until I need them. My tart pan is smaller than a regular pizza pan, so the crust comes out thicker(almost 1" thick). If you want a thinner crust or to serve more people, use a pizza pan(decorate as usual) or jelly roll pan(mix all of the fruit together and spread evenly on top of the fruit dip).  This recipe can be made a day ahead of time.