Last week I was talking to Jason about upcoming desserts for the blog, and I mentioned I wanted to do a fruit pizza for Easter. He furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side like a curious chihuahua. “Fruit…pizza? Is that exactly what it sounds like?”

I couldn’t believe it. We’ve been married almost nine years, and I just now find out that he’s never had a fruit pizza. How is that possible, and what other secrets might he be hiding? Is he a Bieber fan? A money launderer? An international terrorist? Anything seemed plausible. (On the other hand, he found out that I knew of a marvelous dish called a fruit pizza, and I’ve never made it for him. I think he might have more cause for feeling betrayed.)

So if any of you are in a similar boat, let me be the one to introduce you to the wonder that is a fruit pizza, which both is and isn’t exactly what it sounds like. It’s pizza-shaped, sure, and involves a crust, a sauce, and toppings. But instead of a yeast dough, it’s built on a sugar cookie crust, and instead of marinara it has cream cheese frosting, and instead of boring veggies it’s topped with piles and piles of fresh fruit.

And the fruit. The fruit! Imagine me gleefully skipping through the grocery store, tossing anything that caught my eye into my cart—a few kiwis over my left shoulder, followed by some berries in a complicated through-the-legs maneuver, finishing with a lay-up and slam-dunking a mango into the cart. Fruit pizzas can be made with almost any fresh fruit, but I think they look the absolute best when made with a wide variety of different colors and textures—so go crazy and pile it on!

Even though it’s basically a giant glorified cookie, somehow all of the fruit makes this seem like a really fresh, healthy dish. [As long as you ignore the cookie and frosting part.] It’s a perfect brunch dish, or a nice way to end a light meal al fresco.

Now that Jason’s had a fruit pizza, I think it will be making its way into regular rotation around our house. Fortunately it’s easy to throw together—especially if you’re not worried about making Easter egg designs, ha—and we pretty much always have the ingredients on hand. As far as life-changing revelations go, this one turned out to be pretty minor. Now to scour his ipod for any signs of Bieber…

Recipe notes

If you want to save some time, you can use refrigerated sugar cookie dough, and canned cream cheese frosting (or other frosting of your choice.) After the fruit pizza is assembled the cookie tends to get softer, so this is a dessert that’s best enjoyed the day it’s made. The components can be made in advance, though, and kept for several days before you’re ready to assemble the pizza.

Fruit Pizza

yield: at least 16 servings

For the Cookie:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

6 oz butter, at room temperature

11/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp lemon zest (packed)

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 tbsp whipping cream or milk

2 tsp lemon extrac,

For the Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup firm strawberry jam, at room temperature

1-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

complete