Happy 4th of July y'all!!
The 4th of July is a holiday I particularly love, it holds special memories of barbecues, camping, good food, great company and of course, fireworks. To me, summer doesn't "officially" begin until July 4th.
Oh, and it's also my birthday. :) Yes, you read that right, I was born on the 4th of July - my parents used to call me their little "firecracker," and sometimes, they still do! I like to think I stand true to the nickname.
This year I didn't really want a birthday cake (honestly, I'm not really a fan of traditional birthday cake...), but I did want something sweet, patriotic, and made with some sourdough, of course.
This Red, White and Blue Sourdough Fruit Pizza will be sure to knock the socks off of everyone at your family barbecue! It's made of three different parts - sourdough cookie crust, cream cheese frosting and fresh fruit to top it off. And if you choose to do the fermentation, you'll get those added health benefits from the sourdough starter.
I originally saw this recipe on Pinterest and immediately knew I had to try it. With a few tweaks, it turned out nearly perfect!
Kichen Tools Needed:
Large mixing bowl
Hand Mixer
2- 9" cake pans with pre-cut parchment paper (bread mats would work too!)
Red, White and Blue Sourdough Fruit Pizza
original recipe: Rooted at Heart
Ingredients
Sourdough Sugar Cookie
2 – 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup cane sugar
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
2 egg yolks
2 sticks unsalted butter, brought to room temperature
*1/2 cup active sourdough starter or sourdough discard
2 tsp baking powder (if using sourdough discard rather than active starter)
Fruit Toppings
1 cup blueberries
2 cups whole strawberries, halved
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 T cream cheese
1 T unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 T milk (more if needed)
2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it!)
Instructions
Using a hand mixer, combine butter and sugar together until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add egg yolks. Add in vanilla extract and almond extract if using. Blend until smooth.
Add salt and sourdough starter (or discard and baking powder). Mix.
Add flour one cup at a time until combined. Do not over-mix.
Optional ferment on countertop: Cover and ferment 4-6 hours, or overnight if the house is cool. Unlike most sourdough recipes, you don't want the dough to grow (or double), this step is done to reduce the amount of gluten in the flour.
*Optional cold ferment: Place the dough in the fridge for up to 2 days. If skipping counter fermentation and / or bulk fermentation, skip straight to the baking instructions.
Remove the sugar cookie dough from the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Spread the cookie dough into two round, greased (or lined with parchment) 9” pans. Use a fork to poke holes in the dough to allow steam to release while it's cooking.
Cook at 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookie is just turning golden brown.
While the cookie is baking, make the cream cheese frosting and wash/cut your fruit toppings.
Cream Cheese Frosting
To make the cream cheese frosting, combine the powdered sugar, cream cheese, unsalted butter, and vanilla extract with 1 Tablespoon of milk. Cream together until smooth, adding more milk as needed.
Decorating the Cake
Once the cookie has cooled completely, spread half of the cream cheese frosting on one piece of the sourdough sugar cookie, stack the other cookie on top and spread the remaining cream cheese frosting on top of the cake and on the sides.
Decorate the cake using the berries, then pipe the cream cheese frosting between layers if you have any left!
Serve immediately or store in the fridge, covered for up to 5 days.
Notes
If using active sourdough starter (my preference), you can omit the baking powder, if using sourdough discard (or inactive/unfed starter), add baking powder.
Next time I will skip the cold fermentation and go straight to baking. The cold ferment made the sugar cookie dough very difficult to work with (even though I brought it to room temperature).
Other Sweet Sourdough Recipes
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