Just Desserts

     Before continuing on my culinary journey through New England, I'd like to mention something about a potential Philly favorite that I made for our Easter dinner dessert.  My ever expanding 3 ring binder of recipes has a section exclusively for desserts.  Although I am admittedly not a very good baker, I thought that the one titled Philadelphia Fruit Pizza looked particularly good, easy to make, and somewhat healthy, being that it has a lot of fresh fruit on top.

     So on Easter morn I began to assemble the components that I had already purchased to attempt this grande finale to our meal.  I got out all the fruit that was in the 'frig: kiwi, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, and some canned mandarin orange sections.  Everything received a good rinsing and I was ready to build the base.  While the Philadelphia Cream Cheese was softening on the counter I heated up the oven and prepared my spring form pan with parchment paper and carefully sliced up a roll of refrigerated sugar cookie dough and formed into into the bottom of the pan.  It baked according to directions and then was set out to cool completely.  Next I combined the softened cream cheese with some sugar and home made vanilla and whipped it up until smooth.  When the pizza "crust" was cool enough I applied the cream cheese mixture then artfully applied the fruit on top.  The final layer was a glaze made from apricot preserves and a little water then brushed carefully on each piece of fruit.

     The hard part was now complete.  All I had to do was find a place in the refrigerator to allow the pizza to chill for 2 hours. 

     It was indeed the crowning glory of the meal.  And yes, it did have 280 calories per slice and 13 grams of fat (6 of them saturated) and 210 mg of sodium.  But with the fruit it also provided lots of vitamin A & C, and iron, protein and fiber.  But it was a once a year special treat.  And you know what?  It tasted even better last night as a snack before bed!!!