Fruit Pizza....so so so so yummy

This has always been one of my all time favorite desserts.  I always look forward to summertime when I can make it.  And, you can snack while you eat because there is always leftover fruit!

The original recipe for this fruit  pizza comes from an old ward cookbook I have.  From Denise Schwab.  So thank you Denise because I was able to adapt it to make it gluten free.

Here is the original recipe:

Sugar Cookie Crust:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar

Orange Sauce:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. orange peel, finely shredded
1/4 tsp. lemon peel finely shredded
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tsp. cornstarch

Filling:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla
7 cups fresh fruit pieces (peaches, nectarines, kiwi, bananas, mandarin oranges, grapes, apples, and/or berries)


****Changes that I made:
-instead of 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour I used:  1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup cornstarch, 1/4 cup potato starch, 1 tablespoon potato flour, and 2 tsp. xanthan gum

-in the orange sauce I used more like 1 tablespoon of orange peel and 1 tablespoon of lemon peel.  Because I felt like it. :)  It was still yummy.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lightly grease 2 (12 inch) pizza pans.  Or one 12" pizza pan and one cookie sheet.  Just make sure you make it about 1/2" or less thick.
2. To prepare crust, cream butter, the first 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract, beating well.  Combine flours, starches, xanthan gum, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Add to butter mixture, beating thoroughly.
3. Divide dough in half.  Pat dough into prepared pans with lightly floured hands (this worked well).  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until crusts are golden.  Let cool (really important).
4. To prepare orange sauce, combine the sugar, orange and lemon peel, orange and lemon juices, and the cornstarch in a saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture is thick.  Cook and stir for two minutes more.  Cover and cool the sauce without stirring.
5. Meanwhile, to prepare filling, beat cream cheese, the remaining powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
6. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled crusts.  Top with fruit.  Glaze the fruit with the cooked sauce.  Chill the pizzas until serving time.  I ended up doing one pizza on my pizza stone and another bar type  on a cookie sheet.  It yielded 24 servings.  12 of those in pizza (triangular) slices and 12 as bars.

As you can see I had fun arranging my fruit.  But I was RUNNING out the door to deliver half of them to a friend that babysat my kids for FREE!  And preparing the other half to go to one of my hubby's work parties.  So all you get is a crappy cell phone picture.  But, everyone loved it.  LOVED IT!

So enjoy.