July 4th Favorites: Fruit Pizza

The July 4^th celebrations of my childhood bring back memories of lots of family and lots of food. The grill was put to heavy use, Gramma would boil new potatoes and green beans and the ice cream freezer would get a workout with all of the kids taking turns on the crank. Of course, the grown-ups would have to finish the ice cream as it started to freeze harder. My favorite ice cream flavors were filled with home-grown fruit -- strawberries, peaches or raspberries.

These days, I tend to prefer my fruit fresh and avoid too many sweets. But, the 4^th of July is a special occasion and I like to dress up the dessert table with a Fruit Pizza. This cold dessert features fresh fruit, an orange-cream "sauce" and an orange marmalade glaze to keep the fruit from turning brown, all on a sugar-cookie crust. Perfect for a crowd, it serves 24.

1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon dried orange zest
1/2 cup orange juice
3-4 cups fresh fruit -- choose from strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, kiwi, or peaches
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the bottom of a cookie sheet with parchment paper, leaving a bit hanging over the side. Spread the sugar cookie dough over the parchment paper, making sure that it is even and spread into the corners. Bake 18-20 minutes or until just starting to brown on the edges. Remove the cookie crust from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

Prepare the fruit: Wash the berries and remove the caps from the strawberries. Strawberries should be cut in half. Peel the bananas, kiwi and/or peaches and slice into thin slices. Kiwi slices can also be cut in half.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, orange zest and orange juice. Spread the mixture evenly over the cookie crust with a silicon spatula. It will be a thin coating.

Arrange the fruit pieces over the cream cheese mixture. If using blueberries, give them a gentle push to embed into the filling and it will keep the berries from rolling.

In a small bowl, combine the marmalade and water, mixing well to thin the marmalade. Use a pastry brush to baste it over the fruit, taking extra care to make sure the bananas get an even coating. This will keep them from turning brown.

Store the fruit pizza, covered, in the refrigerator until serving time.

Tips:

*You can create a flag fruit pizza! Use blueberries for the field of blue and alternate rows of strawberries and bananas for the red and white stripes.

*Yes, you can use your favorite homemade sugar cookie recipe. Be sure to keep the cookie base thin -- no more than ''¼ of an inch. Use any leftover dough to make a few cookies!