The Ultimate Fruit Pizza

I love farmer’s markets in the spring and summer, and all this cold, rainy weather has me anxious for their return. The beautiful fruits and vegetables inspire me to create seasonal works of culinary art. Is it just me, or doesn't everyone else get hungry just walking down the rows of farmers with their perfectly portioned displays? Seriously, getting to go to the market is usually the highlight of my week.

This recipe is a little something that I came up with when I had some extra fruit. There are lots of fruit pizza recipes out there that use a sugar cookie as the base with cream cheese frosting, but I don’t like that sugary stuff to overpower the sweetness of the fruit.

Make your own fruit pizza

The “pizza crust” is a shortbread with dark chocolate chips which gives a solid base that makes it easy to hold. The “pizza sauce” is a lightly sweetened goat cheese that enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit. The fruit, or “pizza toppings”, can be any seasonal fruit that you enjoy.

Fruit Pizza

• 1 ¾ cup flour

• ½ tsp. baking powder

• ¼ tsp. salt

• 1 cup butter, softened

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

• 8 oz. goat cheese, softened

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 2 Tbsp. half and half

• Various seasonal fruit cut into chunks

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter for at least 2-3 minutes, or until it is fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the granulated sugar, then continue creaming until it is all incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients and chocolate chips until a soft dough forms.

Forming the crust

The texture of the dough is similar to very wet sand, so using a rolling pin isn’t very feasible. What I have found works best is a spring form cake pan. Everybody likes a personal size pizza, so I divide the dough between two 8” pans. Then just press it out evenly with the palms of your hand. If you have a ramekin or a glass with a flat bottom, you can use that to flatten it.

Bake these for 35-40 minutes at 300° or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and turn golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then take out of the pan and cool for at least 30 minutes.

Making the sauce

While the crust is cooling, put the goat cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip it until it is light and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and cream to the bowl and continue to whip until smooth and spreadable. Add more cream if necessary.

Divide the “sauce” between the two “crusts” and spread out evenly. Then just arrange the fruit in any abstract design that you want, or even get the kids involved and let them decorate their own. Making your food pretty makes it so much fun to eat!