Fresh Fruit ‘n Cream Dessert Pizza

I’ll be the first to admit it: I like dessert. So do a lot of our friends. When we have them over for weekend get-togethers and they offer to bring side dishes, I can’t help but notice that the there are two or three times the dishes on the dessert table than on the salad table. Hmmm.

However, during the hot summer months, most of us aren’t drawn to the super rich and heavy desserts. The fresh fruit desserts look more appealing. And maybe because “fruit” is in the name of the dessert (rather than “chocolate” or “fudge”), psychologically we less guilty about eating it (especially if we’re still hoping to fit into our swim suits by the end of summer!). Well, this kind of reasoning works for me. But…that’s a whole other subject.

As far as summery fruit desserts go, one of my favorites is dessert pizza with fresh fruit. My recipe is below. Reading through the recipe, you’ll notice that it’s definitely not low calorie. But it is topped with lots of luscious fresh fruit.

Fresh Fruit ‘n Cream Dessert Pizza

Crust:
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup oatmeal (quick or old fashioned)
¼ cup finely chopped walnuts

Filling:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
Fresh blueberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwis, peaches and pineapples (whatever combination of fresh fruit you like)
Optional: melted courant jelly or apricot jam (run through a sieve) for a fruit glaze

In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and walnuts until thoroughly blended. Grease a 12-inch pizza pan with butter or shortening. Prick the crust with a fork. Bake crust for 12 minutes at 375 degrees F, or until lightly golden brown around edges. Remove from oven and cool.

To make filling, blend cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together with a mixer. Add lemon juice and vanilla and blend until smooth. Spread on top of cooled crust. Chill for 2-3 hours, or until filling is firm.

Top with fresh fruit in a nice pattern. If you’d like to glaze the fruit, first dip them in melted courant jelly or apricot jam.

Enjoy your summer…and all the fresh fruit that’s available!

~Becky