Fruit Pizza Pie

It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time to whip up another appetizer for Bill's small group. I had been holding this one in my back pocket for a few weeks, so in honor of summer's end I made up one of the season's greatest desserts: the fruit pizza. I've found that sometimes the simplest dishes are the best and tastiest, and this one was a perfect example.  It was eaten faster than anything I've brought to Bill's so far.

Fruit pizzas consist of a "crust" made of sugar cookie dough, a sweet "sauce," usually made of cream cheese and other sweeteners, and a grab bag of fruits for toppings. I made up a sugar cookie dough, used cream cheese and a jar of marshmallow creme for the sauce, and lots of brightly colored fruits to top it off.  Quick tip...the crust is the most important part of this dish.

Make the batter just like a normal batch of sugar cookies, then spread it out on a pan and mold it into a pizza crust.  It should take about 10 minutes to cook at 400 degrees, but monitor it closely. It'll be done when it takes on a nice brown color. Remove it from the oven and move it to a cooling rack to stop the cooking process.  Let it cool for 15 minutes or so, slather on your sauce, and then top with the fruits of your choice.  After an hour in the fridge it'll be ready to serve. The end result is bright, colorful, and delicious...a fitting send-off for the season of flip-flops and shorts.

Joe's Fruit Pizza

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 3/4 cup AP flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs

Sauce:

• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 7 oz. jar marshmallow creme
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Toppings:

• 1 pgk strawberries, sliced
• 1 pkg blueberries
• 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 can pineapple chunks, drained and chopped
• 4 kiwis, peeled and sliced

For the crust: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, cream of tartar, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and sift to combine. In a separate bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar for 2-3 minutes until fluffy - it should resemble mashed potatoes. Mix eggs in one at a time until well combined. Stir in flour mixture in three parts until well combined. Grease a cookie sheet (or pizza pan depending on the desired shape) and mold the cookie dough onto the pan until it resembles a pizza crust. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust is brown. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.

For the sauce: combine the cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Spread onto crust using a rubber spatula. Top pizza with sliced fruits. Chill for at least 1 hour or until ready to serve.