25th Anniversary Pizza Roll Cake

Sue and her hubby, Rob, have been married for 25 years as of the 6th of November, 2018. 

That's quite the milestone so I wanted to make them something to help them celebrate. Between the two of them I couldn't decide on a single treat. Sue is one of those weird people that doesn't like sweets so I thought I better go with something savory. I've made several savory treats for a friend's birthday as she also didn't like sweets. I'm surrounded by strange, non-sweet loving weirdos. 

Anyway, I didn't want to duplicate something I had already done as 25 years deserves something new and fun. I decided on pizza as that is what they had on their first date. I "cheated" and used Pillsbury Pizza Dough but you could use your own, from-scratch dough as well. 

Photo above: Rob and Sue and their daughter, Kenzie, from the annual family photo shoot last year. 

25th Anniversary Pizza Roll "Cake"

Ingredients

Pizza Rolls

2 rolls Pillsbury Pizza Crust  

1/4 to 1/2 cup pizza sauce

2 cups shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend)

100 grams pizza salami

100 grams pizza pepperoni

Bacon Roses

10 slices pre-cooked bacon

20 small basil leaves

Decorations

2 containers Philadelphia spicy jalapeno cream cheese spread

yellow pepper

red pepper

carrot

red pepper cheese

Directions

Prepare pizza rolls - Preheat oven to 375. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Unroll one of the Pillsbury pizza crusts on a work surface. Spread with a little of the pizza sauce. Top with a cup of the shredded cheese, then lay half of the meat on top. (See photo below)

Roll up jelly roll style, pinching the seam to seal. 

Cut into 17 slices. Place the slices, cut side down, on prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with other dough and remaining ingredients.

Bake at 375 until dough is golden brown, about 15 - 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. 

Prepare Bacon Roses - Preheat oven to 375. Take a piece of the pre-cooked bacon and, starting with the skinny end, roll up to resemble a rose bud. Place in a mini muffin tin, using a piece of tinfoil to hold it in place and prevent it from unrolling. repeat with remaining pieces. (See photo below) 

Bake at 375 for 10 - 12 minutes, until crispy. Carefully remove the buds from the muffin tin and set on a plate until you need them. 

Assemble the pizza cake - Place the pizza rolls on a serving platter in the shape of the numbers 2 and 5. Place the Philadelphia Spicy Jalapeno Cream Cheese Spread into a piping bag (or sturdy Ziplock bag with the corner snipped off). Pipe a line of small blobs around the numbers, outlining them. 

Using a tiny round cookie cutter, cut out pieces of the yellow and red pepper and place them randomly on the "cake. Cut the carrots into teeny triangle shapes and place them randomly around the "cake". Cut the Red Pepper Cheese into tiny cubes and place them randomly around the "cake". 

Lastly, to place the bacon roses, first put 2 of the small basil leaves together with their ends touching some of the piped cream cheese. Press a bacon rosebud on top of the basil leaves, making sure it sticks into the cream cheese a little too. Place 5 of the roses on the 2, and 5 of the roses on the 5. 

You can decorate with as many of the small vegetable pieces as you like. Just don't completely overload things. 

The cream cheese piping really helps define the edges of the numbers. 

You can add decorations of other colored vegetables if you prefer. IE: purple carrots, cucumber skin, orange peppers, colored cheese (the red pepper cheese is marbled). 

I love how cute the bacon roses turned out. I wanted to be sure to include bacon as a decoration as it is one of Sue's favorite foods!

This is such a fun way to celebrate for people who aren't fans of cakes or pies or sweet things. 

Of course, this would work for a birthday as well as an anniversary! And you can top the pizza with your favorite toppings. I would have gone with ham and pineapple but Sue isn't a fan. #soweird

I still can't believe it's been 25 years since their wedding. It seems like yesterday. 

Happy Anniversary Sue and Rob!!