Patriotic Pizzas Recipe

Ingredients

• CRUST:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• AMERICAN FLAG:
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 2 cups halved fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• Star pastry tip #21
• CANADIAN FLAG:
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3 cups halved fresh strawberries
• Round pastry tip #5

Directions

• Pizza Crust: In a bowl, combine the flour and confectioners' sugar. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until crumbly. Press the mixture onto a greased 12-in. pizza pan. Bake at 325° for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Let cool.
• American flag: In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, mixing until smooth. Spread 1 cup cream cheese mixture over the crust. Set the remaining cream cheese mixture aside.
• Referring to the photo for position, arrange five rows of strawberries on top of the pizza to create the red strips of flag. Place the blueberries in the upper left corner.
• Cut a hole in the corner of the plastic or pastry bag and insert the star tip. Fill the bag with the reserved cream cheese mixture. For the white stripes, pipe a zigzag pattern between the rows of strawberries.
• Canadian flag: In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar. Add the vanilla and lemon juice, mixing until smooth. Spread 3/4 cup cream cheese mixture over the crust. Set the remaining mixture aside.
• Arrange strawberries in the shape of a maple leaf on top of the pizza.
• Cut a hole in the corner of the plastic or pastry bag and insert the round tip. Fill the bag with the reserved cream cheese mixture. Pipe veins on the maple leaf. Yield: 1 pizza.
  
  Crafter thought: Interested in making a different flag that celebrates your heritage? If you"ll need fruit in other colors, try kiwi for green, pineapple for gold, etc. Or, use M&M candies instead.
• Finished size: Each pizza measures about 12 inches across.

Patriotic Pizzas published in Country Woman July/August 2001, p42