One Sweet Dough, Three Ways: Dessert Pizza, Danish Braid, Fruit Pizza

It’s the season of fresh berries so I thought I would resurrect this delicious recipe. The base dough is beautiful; it’s easy to work with and it rolls like a dream. It’s slightly sweet dough and a perfect base for these desserts/breakfast treats.

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One Sweet Dough, Three Ways

Base Dough:
1 package active dry yeast (1/4 ounce)
6 TBS warm water
4 TBS unsalted butter at room temperature
2 TBS brown sugar
1 large egg
2 TBS grated lemon zest or 1 TBS lemon powder
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour

Lemon Curd:
8 TBS unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks

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Cream Cheese Filling:
1 package (8oz) cream cheese at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBS Lemon Curd

Assorted Add ons or ins:
Lemon Curd
Cherry Jelly
Raspberries
Blueberries

egg wash – 1 egg mixed with 1 TBS water

Add the yeast to the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes.
Add the butter, brown sugar, zest (or lemon powder) coriander and salt.
Beat well – it will look quite curdled. Don’t worry
Add the flour in three batches, mixing well after each addition.
Knead the dough for about three minutes – it is a wet dough. Don’t add more flour.
Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl and let rise until doubled about 1 1/2 hours.

Make the Lemon Curd:
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium high heat.
Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon juice and salt.
Whisk in the yolks until smooth.
Return to the heat and slowly cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
Strain the curd into a bowl and let cool.

For dessert pizzas:
Preheat oven to 500°
While the oven is heating roll dough into a circle large enough to fit your pizza stone or on your largest cookie sheet.
Turn the edge in and tuck it under.
Let the dough rise for 20 minutes.
While the dough is rising make the cream cheese filling:
In a stand mixer with the paddle attached add the cream cheese and sugar to the bowl and beat until smooth and well combined.
Add the egg and mix well.
Add the lemon curd and mix well.
Pour the cream cheese mixture in the middle of the dough round and smooth to the edges.
Bake in the preheated oven for 6 – 8 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.

For the Dessert Pizza:
Add cherry jelly to one decorator bag and lemon curd to another.
Decorate the top of the pizza in zigzags.
For the Fruit Pizza:
Decorate the top of the pizza with various berries – I used raspberries and blueberries but any kind can be used. Cover the top of the cream cheese filling.
Add lemon curd to a bag and pipe out over the top

For the Danish Braid:
Preheat oven to 400°
Roll the dough out into a 14″ x 10″ rectangle.
Transfer to a cookie sheet covered in parchment or a silicone baking sheet
Cut strips on each side about 3 inches in
Add the cream cheese filling down the center
Top with fresh raspberries (or other fruit)
If using a tart fruit like raspberries sprinkle with a little sugar
Make the “braid” by folding over the top and bottom piece and then bringing the two pieces on each side and twisting them together.
Brush with egg wash and let rise for 20 minutes
Bake in the preheated over for 25 – 30 minutes until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.

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How Were the Sweet Dough Treats?

I must say I had fun playing with this dough. It is very versatile; I can see making individual danish with it as well. The fruit pizza went with the hubby to a meeting so I didn’t get to taste it but he said it was delicious. Of the other two I enjoyed the danish braid the best. It was a delightful combination of sweet, tart and creamy. I’ll be making this again and again.

The dessert pizza was good. The lemon curd and cherry jelly were delicious on top of the cream cheese filling. As I mentioned the dough is lovely – it’s light, airy and just the right amount of sweet. I do hope you find this as fun a recipe as I did. The base recipe for the dough came from a cookbook called Lemon Zest but I did make a slight addition as the amount of flour in the original just left me with a too sloppy dough. The rest of the fun came from my little brain. The curd recipe is a standard.