Recently, Chirag and I were invited to our neighbors', Shri & VJ's, place for some home-made pizza and drinks. We love hanging out with them because both of them are probably the most relaxed and practical couple I have ever met.
Shri made an amazing Indian-style pizza on naan with fresh home-made paneer (cheese) for me and with chicken for the everyone else. The paneer was honestly the best I had ever tasted. It was so fresh and looked almost like mozzarella balls on the pizza. The sauce for the pizza is similar to butter paneer masala dish by Vahcef. My mouth is watering just thinking about it as I type.
To stick with the home-made pizza theme for the night, I decided to whip up my quick fruit pizza for desert. There are several recipes online with slight variations. Here is my super quick and easy version.
Ingredients:
1/2 roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough
4 oz of Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread (original)
2 TBSP of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extra
fruit of your choice
I just roll out a thin layer of the sugar cookie dough on a round sheet pan. Keep the layer fairly thin otherwise it will be too thick for your pizza. Depending on the size of your pan you may need more or less cookie dough. I bake it as per the instructions (approximately 15 minutes) and then let it cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Do not move on to the next step before your cookie has completely cooled down. Or else the cheese cream will just melt and you'll end up with a soggy pizza! I learned this lesson the hard way. :( Sometimes, I find it helps to stick it in the fridge for a few minutes after it is at room temperature.
Next, whisk the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract together. The cream cheese will become slightly thinner and easier to work with. I do a quick taste test here. Add more sugar or vanilla to suit your taste. I find that adding more vanilla compensates for using less sugar. Then spread the cream cheese over the big sugar cookie.
Finally, pile on the fruit of your choice. You can stop here or if you want to add another layer of flavor add an orange glaze on top. This is especially helpful when using bananas because the acid from the o.j. helps keep the bananas from browning.
For the Glaze:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
2 TSP sugar
1 TSP corn starch
Bring the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar to a shimmer in a small pot. Next, mix the corn starch in a little bit of orange juice in a small bowl first before adding it to the o.j. on the stove. This helps prevent the corn starch from clumping up when added to the warm juice. Bring it all to a low boil for a few minutes and then turn off the stove. The sauce will slowly start to thicken as it cools. Adjust the sugar to your taste. Let it cool for about 10-15 minutes. Brush the glaze over the fruit and you're ready to eat!
I typically prefer to use fresh bananas, strawberries, and kiwi for this fruit pizza. Unfortunately, the strawberries had gone bad in the fridge so I had to improvise. I just used a can of mandarin orange and bananas at first, but it was missing something. I sent my mom and quick text and she came up with the idea of using maraschino cherries that I had in the fridge. Mom's always come to the rescue, don't they? Now, it was perfect and tasted delicious!
Have you had pizza for desert before?
Shri made an amazing Indian-style pizza on naan with fresh home-made paneer (cheese) for me and with chicken for the everyone else. The paneer was honestly the best I had ever tasted. It was so fresh and looked almost like mozzarella balls on the pizza. The sauce for the pizza is similar to butter paneer masala dish by Vahcef. My mouth is watering just thinking about it as I type.
To stick with the home-made pizza theme for the night, I decided to whip up my quick fruit pizza for desert. There are several recipes online with slight variations. Here is my super quick and easy version.
Ingredients:
1/2 roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough
4 oz of Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread (original)
2 TBSP of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extra
fruit of your choice
I just roll out a thin layer of the sugar cookie dough on a round sheet pan. Keep the layer fairly thin otherwise it will be too thick for your pizza. Depending on the size of your pan you may need more or less cookie dough. I bake it as per the instructions (approximately 15 minutes) and then let it cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Do not move on to the next step before your cookie has completely cooled down. Or else the cheese cream will just melt and you'll end up with a soggy pizza! I learned this lesson the hard way. :( Sometimes, I find it helps to stick it in the fridge for a few minutes after it is at room temperature.
Next, whisk the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract together. The cream cheese will become slightly thinner and easier to work with. I do a quick taste test here. Add more sugar or vanilla to suit your taste. I find that adding more vanilla compensates for using less sugar. Then spread the cream cheese over the big sugar cookie.
Finally, pile on the fruit of your choice. You can stop here or if you want to add another layer of flavor add an orange glaze on top. This is especially helpful when using bananas because the acid from the o.j. helps keep the bananas from browning.
For the Glaze:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 1/2 tsp of lemon juice
2 TSP sugar
1 TSP corn starch
Bring the orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar to a shimmer in a small pot. Next, mix the corn starch in a little bit of orange juice in a small bowl first before adding it to the o.j. on the stove. This helps prevent the corn starch from clumping up when added to the warm juice. Bring it all to a low boil for a few minutes and then turn off the stove. The sauce will slowly start to thicken as it cools. Adjust the sugar to your taste. Let it cool for about 10-15 minutes. Brush the glaze over the fruit and you're ready to eat!
I typically prefer to use fresh bananas, strawberries, and kiwi for this fruit pizza. Unfortunately, the strawberries had gone bad in the fridge so I had to improvise. I just used a can of mandarin orange and bananas at first, but it was missing something. I sent my mom and quick text and she came up with the idea of using maraschino cherries that I had in the fridge. Mom's always come to the rescue, don't they? Now, it was perfect and tasted delicious!
Have you had pizza for desert before?
Love the sound of that Indian style pizza. What did she use for the sauce?
ReplyDeleteAnd your dessert pizza sounds delicious as well. Can't go wrong with cream cheese and fruit though!
She said she used the same sauce used for butter paneer recipe in the link I posted. I think she left the sauce a bit thicker for the pizza.
Deletei have had dessert pizza once long time ago and i believe it had chocolate and nuts,
ReplyDeleteChocolates and nuts sounds good too! I'll have to give that a try next time.
DeleteJust reading about it made my mouth water too!
ReplyDeleteHaha, let me know if you do end up trying this out!
DeleteYou had me at the title <3 Love this creative and yummy idea. Can't wait to try this!!
ReplyDeleteXoxo,
Kamana
www.socialandstyle.com
Thanks, Kamana. Do let me know if you try this.
DeleteWow, I'd not even heard of a dessert pizza but this sounds so incredible! I actually thought that picture was like taken from a recipe book or something at first because of the beautiful layout - it looks phenomenal! X
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you so much for your sweet comment Laila! :)
ReplyDeleteIndian style pizza?? What a great idea! I absolutely love fruit pizza. And as far as dessert goes, it's decently healthy! Finding a couple that you can double date with is the best.
ReplyDelete♥ perfectly Priya
Yes, it's so yummy! Home-made paneer makes all the difference.
Delete