Because it is usually terribly hot on the Fourth of July, one of the things I love most is to make fun, easy, and light dishes to enjoy while we are celebrating. One great 4th of July treat is a fresh fruit pizza. This particular recipe has been inspired by my own experimentation with many other fruit pizza recipes along with my own personal preferences.
Pizza Ingredients:
1 container refrigerated sugar cookie dough (I prefer chocolate)
1 carton blueberries, washed and de-stemmed
1 carton raspberries, washed
1 carton strawberries, washed, de-stemmed, and sliced (top to bottom)
Shredded Coconut, optional
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Roll out the sugar cookie dough into a round pizza shape, or a rectangular flag shape.
Bake and cool according to package directions.
Leave/place the baked cookie on the pan, or transfer it to an appropriate and sturdy plate or tray. In a medium bowl, combine the frosting ingredients.Then, frost the top of the cooled cookie with cream cheese frosting.
If using the round pizza shape for your Fourth of July treat, top with fruit beginning at the outer edge and work your way in to the center. You may wish to place a whole strawberry in the center if using this design. Use one type of fruit for each row. If you want to be creative, you can create a design of your own using the colorful red and blue berries.
If using the flag shape for your Fourth of July treat, use the blueberries in the upper left hand corner of the flag. These represent the filled in blue field that surrounds the white stars. Then, use the raspberries and strawberries to create the seven red stripes that alternate with six white stripes.
On an American flag, the stripes start at the top with red and end at the bottom with red. The first seven stripes, beginning from the top, are along the side of the star field portion of the flag. These stripes begin and end with red. The remaining six stripes run the full width of the flag and begin with white. The stripes in this section end with red.
If you want to add something white to the white areas of your Fourth of July treat so they are more than just frosting, cover the star field area of the flag with coconut first, then place the blueberries on top. You can then cover each white stripe with shredded coconut.
Keep your Fourth of July treat covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until ready to serve. You may cut it with a knife or pizza cutter if desired.
Variation: Make a fruit glaze for the top of your Fourth of July treat. It does not look right on the flag design, but with other designs, it should look fine. To make the glaze, use about 1/2 cup of the berry jam or preserves of your choice, and about 2 tbsp of water. Mix and heat in a small saucepan. Drizzle or brush over the top of the fresh fruit pizza.
