4th of July Fruit Pizza
This 4th of July Fruit Pizza has an easy sugar cookie crust, cheeseecake topping and berries on top.
Servings 8
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour or for gluten-free, see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 teaspoon fine Himalayan pink salt)
- 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1 large egg (50 grams, out of shell) room temp
For the cheesecake topping:
- 8 oz (225 grams) cream cheese* room temp
- 1 1/3 cups (160 grams) powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy cream cold
For decoration:
- 1 pound (453 grams) strawberries - you need 20-26 small or medium strawberries, which is 11oz / 312 grams
- 6 oz (170 grams) blueberries - you need 52-57 blueberries, which is 155 grams / 5.4 oz
Instructions
Before beginning:
- Rinse and lay the berries out on paper towels so that they’ll dry. Place some paper towels on top to really soak up any water. This will prevent the topping from getting runny.
Make the crust:
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until well combined.
- Beat in the lemon zest, lemon extract, and egg until incorporated.
- Gradually add in the flour mixture on low speed. Beat just until combined.
- Cover the bowl and chill for 1 hour. You can make and refrigerate it for up to 3 days in advance. If chilling longer than an hour, you'll need to let it sit at room temp until soft enough to handle. You can also freeze it and use it within 3 months. Then thaw overnight in the freeze.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Grease a 12” (30.5 cm) pizza pan (don't use one with holes). If you don’t have one, you can use a piece of parchment paper on a baking tray.
- Press the chilled dough into the prepared pan to form a 10” (25.4 cm) circle.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the crust has lightly browned.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely - about 1 hour.
Make the topping:
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer at medium speed until completely combined.
- While still mixing, now on low, gradually add the heavy cream.
- Once it’s well incorporated, turn the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form - about 2 to 5 minutes. The topping can be made 3 days in advance and kept refrigerated until the day of serving.
Decorate:
- On the day of serving, spread the topping over the cooled crust.
- Place the fruit over the topping into whatever pattern you'd like.
- Serve within 12 hours for best results. The crust doesn't get soggy, but will be a little softer after the first day. Also, the fruit won't look as nice and certain fruit might bleed a little bit.
How to store:
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The topping doesn't harden, so the plastic wrap will stick to it around the edge of the fruit pizza. It's best to place the fruit tart in a cake carrier, large pan, etc., and then cover the pan with plastic wrap.
Notes
- For a gluten-free version, use 1 1/2 cups (188 grams) King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour or 1 1/2 cups (207 grams) Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour.
- If you're located outside the US or Canada, chances are you have cream cheese packaged in small tubs meant for spreading on toast, rather than the brick-style variety sold in North America. Here's what you'll need to do: for the 8 ounces (225 grams) of cream cheese required for this recipe, purchase a 300-gram package of cream cheese. Store-brand options from Aldi, Lidl, etc., work just as well as Philadelphia brand. Place the cream cheese in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth (not merely a paper towel), and gently squeeze out the excess liquid until you have 225 grams of cream cheese.