You’ve spent your weekend at the Strawberry Festival … what are you going to do with all those beautiful sweet berries?! I have got the perfect recipe. It’s easy and impressive, anyone that you server to will feel special! Plant City Strawberry Pizza!

Ripe, sweet red berries are the crowning jewel of this simple dessert!

Fear not, if you don’t live in Plant City or the surrounding areas, you can use this recipe with any fresh strawberry, raspberry, blackberry or blueberry that you have. Side note- Plant City also grows the most scrumptious blueberries this time of year!!

Let’s get started!!

Almost all the ingredients you’ll need. I forgot to put my cream cheese and powdered sugar in the photo….
I love using Aldi brand products when I bake and cook, they’re very good quality extremely cost-effective!

Ingredients:

  • 2 quarts/ large packages of fresh whole strawberries
  • 1 premade sugar cookie dough package
  • Strawberry jam, topping or premade glaze
  • 1 cream cheese brick, room temperature
  • 2 seperate 1/2 cup measurements powdered sugar
  • 1 pint heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
I’m using a strawberry huller in this photo but I don’t actually like using one. I prefer cutting off the tops with a knife.

To get started you’ll need to clean and slice your strawberries as pictured above.

Next, spray your springform pan with Pam. Then press your cookie dough into the pan. The pan I like using is commonly used for baking cheesecakes. It has a nifty latch on the outside to release the outer ring of the pan for easy serving. I don’t have the exact diameter, but you don’t want it to big.

You don’t need to worry about the little fingerprints in the dough, nor do you have to press it all the way to the edge- I promise you it will spread out during the baking process. I’m not a perfectionist with baking or cooking but I can imagine if you are, you could take the bottom of a measuring cup and press the dough out to where it’ll look a little bit neater.

Bake just the sugar cookie dough at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes. You’ll definitely want to do a toothpick test to see if it is fully baked. Take the baked cookie out of the oven and let it cool for about an hour before putting the rest of the layers on. I often cheat and put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes so that the assembly process moves along quicker for me!

Sometimes I prefer a hand mixer to my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, less cleanup.

Use a hand mixer to beat together the softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. You will want to taste the cream cheese mixture to see if it’s sweet enough to your preference. You can always add more powdered sugar and beat for another minute. I give it a few finishing folds with a spatula to make sure it’s nice and smooth.

Leave a “crust” area so it resembles a pizza.

Once the sugar cookie is cool, you may remove it from the sides of the springform pan and begin layering on your cream cheese mixture. Use an offset spatula to get it nice and even.

Add half a jar of strawberry jam or sweetened glaze topping to your sliced strawberries. Gently place berries on top of the cream cheese mixture, not going all the way to the edge. You’ll want you are finished product to resemble a pizza with a crust.

Whip the pint of whipping cream on medium speed with the other half cup of powdered sugar and vanilla. I always start out with a little less sugar than I think I’ll need because it’s easier to add sweetener than to take it away. Always taste for sweetness!

Fun fact- whipped cream actually is unsweetened. Once you have sweetened or flavored the whipped cream, it’s called Chantilly cream!

Don’t over whip, you’re not making butter!

I used the same mixing bowl as the cream cheese mixture- it was a time saver not having to clean it before the next use!

I usually don’t place all of the whipped cream on top of the strawberry pizza. Some people prefer a little less, some people prefer a little more. It can often break down the strawberries faster, so I serve it on the side.

If this dessert does not speak to your strawberry loving soul, I don’t know what will!!!

I hope this recipe brings your family many happy memories as it does with mine! This is my son John’s favorite way for me to use the seasons fresh strawberries!!! I get so much joy out of seeing him take that first slice!

Bon appetit

Rachel

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