Almond Blueberry Dessert Pizza
Use 65-percent cocoa-content chocolate for the curls. Make them by chilling the chocolate bar, then scraping across the sides with a vegetable peeler.
Makes one 12-inch pizza
INGREDIENTS
- 4 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup Splenda artificial sweetener
- 1 cup no-sugar-added almond butter
- ⅓ cup skim milk
- 1 cup blueberry fruit spread, warmed
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 4 ounces dark chocolate curls
In a large bowl, place egg whites, cream of tartar, salt, and almond extract. Beat with a mixer on high speed until foamy. Slowly add Splenda and continue beating until glossy peaks form.
Spread egg white mixture over the bottom of a 12″ pizza pan lined with nonstick foil or parchment. Bake at 300° for 1 hour, then turn the oven off but leave the pan in the oven for another hour. Remove crust to a clean, dry rack and let cool completely.
Place crust on a large platter. Mix almond butter and milk until smooth and pourable.
Very carefully spread almond butter over the meringue crust. Drizzle warm blueberry fruit spread over the almond butter and lightly spread with the back of spoon.
Sprinkle fresh blueberries on top and cover with chocolate curls. Use a sharp knife to cut in wedges to serve.
About Artificial Sweeteners
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews the safety of all food additives in the U.S., including artificial sweeteners. At present, there are several sweeteners generally considered safe for human consumption, including aspartame, acesulfame potassium, Sucralose, and Neotame. The sweeteners are many hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, which means that tiny amounts — nutritionally insignificant — are all that's needed to sweeten foods. Some products, such as Sucralose (Splenda), hold their sweetness during cooking, while others (aspartame, for instance) cannot withstand high temperatures.
