Recipe Time #11: Dessert Pizza

A whimsical and colorful dessert that's a delight for group gatherings; it's also incredibly simple to put make: shortbread crust, assorted toppings with cream cheese frosting and strawberry jam sauce.


Ingredients (makes a 12" pizza, serves 12-18 depending on slicing)

Crust (Shortbread)
2 (16 tbsp.) sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. (1 package) cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick (4 tbsp.) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Toppings
Be creative and pick your own! (I chose kiwifruits, cherries & tangerines because they are colorful, cheap/in-season and don't turn brown & mushy) I guesstimate about 1 to 1 1/2 cup of toppings

Strawberry/Raspberry Preserves (optional)

Directions
1. Start with the shortbread crust
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a. Sift the flour and salt, set aside
b. Combine the softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until well-blended and creamy
c. Add the flour/salt mixture, a quarter at a time, and incorporate; the dough will be pretty crumbly.
d. Roll the dough up into a ball and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet
e. Using a roller (or in my case, a wine bottle), roll out the dough in a circular motion until quarter-inch thick. To get a uniform shape, press something circular into it (skillet, 12-inch paper circle, in my case, the rim of a springform pan) then trim excess with a knife
f. Place in fridge for about 15 minutes to let it set and get firm, helping it hold its shape when baked. Preheat oven to 350 F.
g. Bake for 12-18 minutes, or until edges start to brown.
h. Take out and let it cool to room temperature (if you prefer pre-cut the crust for cleaner and more even slices, do it while it's still warm)
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2. Make the cream cheese frosting; simply combine the cream cheese, butter, sugar and vanilla extract until well-blended.

3. After the crust is cool, spread the frosting on top (I found the easiest way is to drop glops of it with a spoon, then spread out in a circular motion with a spatula or the bottom of a spoon). Loosely wrap pizza and place in fridge to allow frosting to set a while.

4. While pizza is cooling, prepare the assorted the toppings . . .. . . which for me meant slicing the various fruits and drying them on a paper towel so they don't make the frosting runny. (Yes, there are peach segments in the photo - I also considered them, but they wound up being taking too much space and I already have an orange-colored fruit, so direct into my mouth they went.)

5. Take pizza out of the fridge and place toppings on top.

6. If you want to put some red sauce for an even more pizza-like effect, simply scoop some jam in a baggie, snip the corner and pipe away at the pizza.

7. Serve at room temperature or wrap 'n chill (up to 2-3 days) - enjoy!