Fruit Pizza and Friends

Last night, for the first time in awhile, we had some friends over for dinner. It was really nice to have company (and a great excuse to straighten up the house!) We had a really good time just chatting and laughing and I was really proud of how my dinner turned out. The simplest part of the cooking process, by far, was dessert. I've perfected the art of making the easiest, tastiest, fruit pizza ever so I feel an obligation to share my secret. It's the perfect summer dessert!


Here's what you need:
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 tub Philadelphia Ready-to-Eat Cheesecake Filling
Fruit- I recommend some fresh and at least one pie filling. I chose kiwis and strawberries (fresh), mandarin oranges in a jar, pineapple tidbits, and canned cherry pie filling because I wanted lots of color and because I know from experience these all taste good together.

Slice the cookie dough into thick circles (like, maybe 12-14) then arrange them on your baking sheet (I use a ceramic pizza "pan" so I can bake and serve it all on one plate) a baking stone or regular metal pizza pan, tart tin, or even a regular cookie sheet would do. Since my plate is round I arranged the slices in a circle and then pressed them until they all connected and the resulting circle was about as thick as you'd roll out the dough to make cookies. Bake according to directions. Don't overbake it! If the cookie gets crunchy your slices will fall apart when you serve them. You want a slightly chewy cookie. An easy way to achieve this is to take it out just as the edges begin to brown and tap the pan on the counter or your stove when you take it out. This forces the air out so the cookie falls and makes a dense chewy crust. Let it cool. You could slice your kiwis and strawberries or whatever fruit you chose in the meantime. Once it's cool just spread the cheesecake filling (this stuff is the best thing since sliced bread, believe me!) over the cookie leaving a little space around the edge (I used the whole tub). Then the fun part starts- arranging the fruit! It's like creating artwork! Finally, cover and refrigerate until you serve it. (*When choosing the baking/serving dish make sure it'll fit in your 'fridge!) The possibilities are endless, really. You could use this same "recipe" only use strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blueberry or blackberry pie filling or a combination of all those for a 4th of July picnic, or pick a color scheme: bananas, oranges, pineapple, and peaches, green apples grapes and kiwis, strawberries and raspberries. If you're using fruits like apples or bananas that will brown toss them in lemon juice before you arrange them on the pizza. They'll look better longer. Be sure your fruit is not too wet or juicy when it goes on the pizza (like if you wash your strawberries right before you slice and arrange them the water and juice will run and puddle in the cream-cheese.) It'll still taste alright, it just doesn't look as pretty. Dried fruits and nuts are always great add ons. Also, if you want your fruit to glisten make an easy glaze by heating a clear jelly (like orange, apricot, quince, mayhaw, for example) in a saucepan or in the microwave until it's runny then brush it over your fruit or drizzle it over the whole pizza. Want still another variation? Use chocolate chip cookie dough and then arrange chocolate dipped fresh or dried fruit on top of the cream cheese! You can buy chocolate "fondue" in a microwave safe container that works great for dipping fruit. You literally just microwave and dip...the chocolate hardens in seconds and your fruit will be ready to arrange. Usually you can find this stuff in the baking aisle at your grocery store. It'd be very little more trouble that the original fuit pizza...and it'll look really professional! Happy pizza-making!

Thanks to Josh, Valerie, Jeremy and Jason for being our guests...and for being willing to try my various culinary experiments!sweetly, happily, and artfully yours,

randi