Back in the later years of high school I had a girlfriend that often brought fruit pizza to various get-togethers. It was always a HUGE hit! And it made enough of an impression on me to remember. It’s something that not everybody has heard of, but once you do, you immediately become a fan. Personally, this is my first time making any myself and I couldn’t be happier with the results!
There are a couple of options you have when you go to make your fruit pizza. Firstly, the pan. If you don’t own a small, 12″ pizza pan then you can always use a 9×13-inch pan. It just won’t have that “pizza” look. It’ll look more like a bar. Or you can do what I did and make a 92-cent investment in a cheap-o Walmart pan : ) Your call.
Now for the sugar cookie crust. Some people aren’t homebakers. For those people, I strongly encourage you to not give up on this recipe simple because you don’t want to make the cookie dough- go out and get some store bought! Refrigerated or boxed. Doesn’t matter, it’ll have the same result. But I have to say, this homemade sugar cookie crust recipe is ammmmmmazing! Hands down, you’re socks will be knocked off if you decide to go the homemade route. It was moist and chewy, just perfect! It was easily pressed into the pan with some well-floured fingertips and it came out in beautiful slices.
The fruit is obviously your call. I went with strawberries and blueberries because of the 4th of July, but I’ve seen lots of people use other things like grapes, kiwi, etc. Banana’s and the like aren’t great because they oxidize and get brown. Yuck.
For the cream cheese topping you can go 2 routes- simple sweetened cream cheese or a fun, fluff-cream cheese combination. I went with the fluff option, but I think they would both be equally delicious. I think sweetened cream cheese would be less slippery for the fruit and probably easier to glaze though. Plus you’ll get more of a distinct cream cheese flavor. But the fluff option is just so much fun!
And lastly, the glaze. You can take the easy way out and thin out some warm apricot (or other fruit) jelly OR you can really make your pizza stand out with a homemade orange glaze. I chose to make my own glaze. It was phenomenal! Although, you should be warned, you only need about half of what it makes. And you need to be really conservative with spreading it on. This pizza is sweet! If you pour the glaze on you are likely to fall into a sugar coma shortly after consumption. So use a pastry brush if you have one.
- For the Sugar Cookie Crust:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For Cream Cheese Topping:
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow fluff
- For the Syrup:
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon orange zest
- Assorted fruit
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and ¾ cup sugar until smooth. Mix in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. With floured fingertips, press dough into a 12″ greased pizza pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool.
- Beat Cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Mix in fluff until well combined. Spread across cooled cookie crust. Assemble fruit.
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn starch, orange juice, lemon juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and add grated orange rind. Allow to cool, but not set up. Spoon over fruit. Chill for two hours, then cut into wedges and serve.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this! It would be a perfect addition to any Fourth of July table next week. Plus, easy to make year round with seasonal fruits. Looks like I’ll need to make a special trip to WalMart.
That is exactly what I was thinking with the Holiday- I hope you enjoy it!