Fruit pizza brings me back to my childhood. With store-bought sugar cookie dough and Cool Whip stirred with Indian mango pulp, my mom made this dessert all the time. I loved decorating the pizza with fresh seasonal fruits, and I still remember the excitement to eat a slice (or two).
Years later, in the heat of summer, I was suddenly craving this dessert. Being the baker that I am, I can’t imagine using store-bought cookie dough or Cool Whip now, so I adapted it. I swapped out the Cool Whip for a lovely mascarpone topping and added a bit of lemon zest to the dough. Had I not happened to run out of white chocolate, I would have drizzled some over the top of the fresh fruit, although this humble fruit pizza was fabulous as is.
Fruit Pizza
Adapted by Amrita Rawat from a recipe originally published on SmittenKitchen.com Fruit pizza crust (recipe follows)
½ stick butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, cold
4 oz. mascarpone
¼ cup mango purée
Seasonal fruit of choice, washed and sliced
• First, make the fruit pizza crust.
• While the crust is cooling, make the mango sauce: Blend the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Then blend in the cream cheese, mascarpone and mango purée.
• Spread the mango sauce over the cooled cookie.
• Arrange your favorite seasonal fruit on top.
• Serve immediately or place in the refrigerator.
Fruit Pizza Crust
Makes at least one 9-inch crust (with plenty left over)
Adapted by Amrita Rawat from a recipe originally published in The Art & Soul of Baking 2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup almond flour (or you can use all-purpose flour)
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
8 oz. butter, cold and cubed
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract (or you can use vanilla extract)
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine both of the flours, salt and sugar in a stand mixer or food processor and beat until blended. Add the butter to the mixture and mix on low until it breaks into small pieces, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the egg yolks and both of the extracts and blend until the dough comes together and pulls away from the bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until it comes together.
• Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes, or until it’s cold but pliable.
• Use a 9-inch cake or tart pan to draw a 9-inch circle on parchment paper.
• Turn the paper over and roll the dough out to fit the circle to your desired thickness. (You will have plenty of scraps leftover.)
• Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden.
• Let the crust cool completely. Set aside.
This article appears in July 2012.
