Dessert Pizza with Fresh Fruit — It’s Gluten-Free

Who doesn’t like a dessert that tastes great and is also healthy? This dessert is gluten-free and also fitting for the the Pesach holiday (Passover). You might just like it because it uses an assortment of fresh fruit along with cream cheese, yogurt and a lemony-almond crust. It is a dessert which is hard to resist.

I’ve been looking for creative ways to serve fresh fruit. Louisiana strawberries ripen in spring and blueberries from my garden will soon be here. Although a fresh fruit cup is fine, combining fresh fruit with pastry is very tempting. Originally my recipe used cookie dough for the crust and layered on icing and fresh fruit. Yummy, but high in sugar. I have modified it for a more healthy version.

Here’s my first trial of making this dessert. Use your creativity to decide which fruits to place on the pizza. Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, kiwi and mandarin oranges are all readily available choices.

Gluten-Free Crust & No Leaving for Passover

This recipe uses a modified pie dough for the crust. It does not contain leavening. I used a combination of almond meal/flour and potato flour in place of all-purpose flour. During Passover the grains of wheat (except matzo), barley, spelt, oats and rye are forbidden. Desserts during Passover are unleavened and may use matzo meal, potato and/or almond flour. In addition, both potato and almond flour are gluten-free (but not matzo meal), so the crust is okay for anyone following a gluten-free diet.

To make the crust, blend in the two flours, sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor bowl. Pulse several times to cut in the butter to the size of small peas. Then add 2 Tbsp of the ice water and pulse. Only if needed, add 1 Tbsp additional ice water at a time until the dough pulls away from the sides of the food processor bowl.

Gather up and form into a ball. Roll out on parchment paper to a 10″ circle which is about 1/8′ thick. Use a gentle touch with the rolling pin and work quickly. The ice water helps the dough stay cool. Once the dough starts to warm up if will become sticky. Use your fingers to shape the edges, perhaps thicken the edges a bit.

Transfer parchment paper with crust to baking sheet and bake in a 375 oven for 15 minutes. Bake until edges begin to brown, it will still be soft in the center. Transfer parchment paper with crust to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. Then  loosen the edges with a spatula and slide off the parchment paper and onto a serving platter.

Here are the ingredients for the topping:  I used both plain Greek yogurt and reduced-fat cream cheese. A little almond extract helps accent the almond flour in the crust.Soften the cream cheese (I used 1/2 of this package or 4 oz) and add in plain Greek  yogurt, powdered sugar and almond extract. Blend together using a mixer. Spread on cooled crust.Use your imagination in decorating the crust. Slice into 8 wedges and serve. Keep leftovers  chilled in refrigerator.

This is a healthy version of the traditional dessert pizzas. it easy to make and great any time of the spring or summer. Enjoy!