We had a nice crop of strawberries this year, though we had to share some with the birds
and voles. As I was trying to figure out a garden-related recipe to share I thought of this
fruit pizza that my friend Eve used to make for potlucks.
I had previously made fruit pizzas from a recipe I got from the Wyandotte News Herald
many years ago when we lived in Michigan. It used a sugar cookie dough instead of the
shortbread dough and the glaze was a thinned apricot jam. It was very good but I like
the shortbread crust better and the fruit juice glaze is a little less sweet.
The only change I made to the original recipe was to cut back on the powdered sugar
that’s mixed with the cream cheese. As I recall the last time I made it, it was quite sweet.
The original recipe had 2 cups of powdered sugar and I reduced it to a half a cup. It still
had a sweetness to it and coupled with the sugar in the short bread it was quite nice.
The recipe calls for a 16″ round pan. If you don’t have one just use a cookie sheet. I wasn’t
thinking and I used a 12″ pizza pan. Therefore the crust was a bit thicker and had to be
baked for a couple of minutes more. Also, with the smaller pan 16 oz of cream cheese was
way too much. So somebody – we won’t mention who – just ate the leftovers.
The other deviation I made was that I used arrowroot instead of cornstarch because that’s
all I had. Stick with the cornstarch. The arrowroot topping was like trying to spread a
melted gummy bear.
FRUIT PIZZA (for 16” pizza pan) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
CRUST:
2 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
3/4 c. butter
Blend together in food processor, pat into pan.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or so.
FILLING: 16 ounces cream cheese (lite or neufchatel fine), softened
1/2 c. confectioners sugar
Cream together and spread onto baked and cooled crust
FRUIT: Cover with cut-up fruit
GLAZE: 2 c. fruit juice (I used Cranberry-Pomegranate juice.)
1/4 c. cornstarch
Pour small amount of juice into the cornstarch and stir to combine. In saucepan, bring to
boil.
Cool slightly over cold water, then pour over fruit. Chill.
After glazing.