Fruit Pizza

Fruit Pizza is light and fresh, perfect for summer and always a hit at pot-luck parties.  The homemade cookie crust layered with sweetened cream cheese and an arrangement of fresh fruits are topped with a citrus glaze that not only helps keep the fruit looking and tasting fresh, but balances the sweetness from below.  Be prepared and bring a copy of the recipe, your family and friends will love it too!


Fruit Pizza
recipe from Mom, by Stella B's Kitchen
printer friendly recipe




For the crust:
2 cups flour
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar


For the cream cheese layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla


For the fruit:
Assortment of desired fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, banana slices, kiwi slices, blueberries, mandarin oranges and blackberries...fruit that isn't super juicy works best.  Place sliced fruit on paper towel before setting on pizza to prevent juices from bleeding.


For the citrus glaze:
3/4 cup water
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cornstarch


Crust:  Mix flour and powdered sugar with softened butter.  Pat on a parchment lined jelly roll pan.  I like to use a 17x12 inch sheet pan while leaving some space between the crust and the edge of the pan for easier cutting.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden.  Cool completely.  Make citrus glaze so it has time to cool.  *The crust can be made a day ahead and left at room temperature to speed assembly.


Citrus glaze:  Whisk dry ingredients in a heavy saucepan.  Add remaining ingredients and heat to boiling.  Cook about a minute, or until thickened slightly.  Cool in refrigerator or in ice bath before pouring on fruit, but not overnight as it will gel up and not pour.


Cream cheese layer:  Blend ingredients until smooth and spread evenly over crust.  *The cream cheese layer can be made a day ahead to speed assembly.  Do not top crust until ready to assemble.

Top with an assortment of fruit, filling up the white spaces.  Generally one pan uses 1 banana, about 6-8 strawberries, 1/2-3/4 can of mandarin oranges and 1-2 kiwi fruit.  Use what you like or what is available.

Begin spooning citrus glaze all over fruits, taking care to coat all fruits, especially  bananas to prevent browning.  Try to keep the glaze on the pizza and not slop it all over the crust as I have shown here.

Fruit Pizza is best served with a fork after being refrigerated for several hours so citrus glaze can gel a bit.  The crust softens ever so slightly so it doesn't crumble when cut and everything sort of melds together.  This piece was cut about 17 hours after glaze was spooned on fruit.


Enjoy!!

Cook's note: the photos above are from a half-recipe.  Place parchment on a large sheet pan (size described above), but only covering half the surface area of the pan.  Use a spatula on edge of dough to make it neat and straight.  I did not have fresh orange juice, but rather frozen orange juice concentrate and scooped out 2 Tbsp of concentrate and added it to a 1/2 cup measure, then filled the cup with water until I had 1/2 cup.


You may also use a jelly roll pan (mine is 15.5 x 10.5 x 1 inch) and press the crust all the way to the edges of the pan, without lining with parchment.  The first pieces are tricky to get out, but otherwise it comes out just fine. 

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