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If you would like a salad that tastes identical to dessert, Ambrosia Salad (with bitter cream) is the ticket! There are various alternative ways to drag collectively some fruit and name it ambrosia, however my model is made with recent pineapple, candy mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, flaky coconut, mini marshmallows and stirred along with a bitter cream and whipped cream dressing. you’ll fall in love with this creamy fruit salad recipe! Scrumptious served with Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Broccoli Salad, but it surely tends to indicate up on Vacation tables as nicely.
However First, What’s Ambrosia?
Ambrosia (or Ambrosia Salad) is an American fruit salad usually made with a complete bunch of canned fruit tossed along with a creamy ‘dressing‘ generally made with a whipped topping made with mayonnaise, heavy cream, cool whip, bitter cream, cottage cheese and/or different elements. There are many variations of this recipe floating out on the web, and I submit that mine has the most effective taste!
Rising up, my mother made her model of Ambrosia Salad and I HATED it. I don’t know what was in it apart from the can of fruit cocktail (arduous go). As a grown grownup and now recipe developer, I got down to make an Ambrosia I couldn’t solely abdomen however really love, and buddies, I did it! This can be a creamy, candy, coconut-y, and fresh-tasting fruit salad you’ll love and has now develop into a household favourite!
Mayonnaise vs Bitter Cream
In a number of recipes from previous recipe books I prefer to learn and even on-line, I discovered it actually fascinating that they referred to as for mayonnaise within the dressing. Whereas I can perceive how that might be an excellent savory ingredient on this sweeter salad dressing, I believed it made far more sense to make this Ambrosia Salad with bitter cream. Its taste profile is lighter, tangier, and pairs higher with the recent pineapple and canned fruit. Plus it’s considerably decrease in energy than the mayo, if that’s one thing you’re monitoring.
Ambrosia Salad Ingredient Requirements
So, when first approaching this recipe, I did tons of analysis and, based mostly on my preferences, added and omitted sure elements. I hate consuming canned fruit that tastes like canned fruit, so my essential purpose in making Ambrosia salad was to make this recipe style as recent as attainable whereas nonetheless utilizing a number of canned fruits.
- Contemporary Pineapple– you’ll use nearly a complete pineapple for this recipe. Make sure you minimize out the robust core and cube up the remaining. In case you are in a pinch, you should use 2 (20 oz cans of pineapple tidbits).
- Mandarin Oranges– drained. Make sure you use those in gentle syrup, to not be confused with sugar-free syrup.
- Maraschino Cherries– we love these at my home, so I ended up utilizing a full 16 oz jar, however be at liberty to cut back this quantity as you want.
- Coconut Flakes– this can be a candy fruit salad so you should use unsweetened coconut right here if you happen to favor, however the recipe requires sweetened, desiccated coconut.
- Pecans– one other completely optionally available ingredient! Be at liberty to swap these out for different nuts or simply omit them fully. You select!
- Miniature Marshmallows– you can not have Ambrosia with out the mini marshmallows!
- Heavy Cream– the idea for the creamy dressing.
- Sugar– this recipe solely requires 1 1/2 tablespoons since all the pieces else is so candy.
- Vanilla Extract– a extremely nice underlying taste to need to deliver this entire dish collectively.
- Bitter Cream– the pure tanginess of the bitter cream creates that ‘recent’ taste you need when consuming fruit, so it really works rather well with candy canned fruit.
How one can Make Ambrosia Salad
Maintain onto your hats, buddies. That is the simplest recipe everrrr! It simply entails slightly whisking, chopping, and fridge time. For full recipe particulars, together with elements and measurements, you’ll want to see the printable recipe card beneath.
Prep Your Contemporary Fruit
Drain and chop your fruit. Reduce the pineapple into bite-sized items being certain to take away the core and drain the mandarins and cherries rather well. Place all of them into a big bowl.
Add Coconut, Pecans + Mini Marshmallows
Measure and add within the remaining ingredients- coconut, pecans, and mini marshmallows.
Make the Dressing
For the dressing, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla collectively till stiff peaks kind.
Fold the bitter cream into the whipped cream till nicely blended. A delicate hand and a rubber scraper will make sure you don’t knock out all of the air!
Pour Over Fruit + Mix
Pour the whipped cream combination over the fruit and stir to coat fully.
Refrigerate
Cowl and refrigerate for 2 hours or till able to serve.
Making Forward + Storing Leftovers
The great thing about this recipe is it will get higher the longer it sits within the fridge! You can also make this as much as two days earlier than serving. After 48 hours within the fridge, the marshmallows dissolve, the whipped cream loses its air, and issues begin to flip watery. It’s nonetheless positive to eat (the fruit is ok!) however isn’t nearly as good as on days 1 and a couple of. So I’d advocate two days max within the fridge earlier than consuming. Make sure you retailer it in an hermetic container or cowl the bowl tightly with plastic wrap whereas within the fridge.
FAQ About Ambrosia Fruit Salad Recipe
The identify “ambrosia” comes from Greek mythology, the place it referred to the drink or meals of the gods that was stated to offer immortality.
The fashionable-day ambrosia salad is believed to have originated within the American South through the early 1900s, and it’s probably that the identify was chosen as a result of the salad was thought of to be a heavenly, divine dessert. Using tropical flavors from fruits and including coconut within the salad additionally lends to the thought of it being unique and otherworldly, very similar to the legendary ambrosia of historical Greece.
Sure, Ambrosia salad is commonly related to Southern delicacies and is a well-liked dessert at vacation gatherings and potlucks.
Sure, you may make a lighter model of Ambrosia salad through the use of plain Greek yogurt or whipped coconut cream as a substitute of a standard whipped topping. Simply keep in mind that Greek yogurt will give your salad a extra tangy taste, and the dish is not going to be as candy as when made with basic whipping cream.
Sure, you’ll be able to! Cool Whip is the just like the ugly stepsister of heavy whipping cream. It’s made with loads of pretend elements but it surely’s these elements that rise up nicely for days it doesn’t matter what. So if you happen to’re eager to make this Ambrosia Salad waaaay prematurely, Cool Whip is perhaps an excellent possibility. Nonetheless, the completed product gained’t have fairly the identical mouthfeel that it might when utilizing whipping cream. Once more, it comes right down to desire. I’d advocate actual whipping cream.
If substituting Cool Whip for Whipped Cream on this recipe, use 2 cups of Cool Whip rather than the 1 cup of (un-whipped) heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar. Merely fold it along with the bitter cream and pour it onto the fruit.
Love Fruit? Attempt These Different Candy Recipes:
This basic dessert salad is the right and most refreshing facet dish to serve with something from a summer season bbq to vacation household gatherings! Make sure you bookmark, save, pin or print this simple Ambrosia Salad recipe! It’s the one ‘salad’ on the market that we are able to all agree on. 🙂 The printable recipe card is down beneath. Have an important day, buddies!
If you happen to make this recipe, I might actually respect it if you happen to would give it a star score and depart your evaluation within the feedback! In case you have an image of your completed dish, put up it on Instagram utilizing the hashtag #laurenslatest and tagging me @laurens_latest.
Ambrosia Salad Recipe (with Bitter Cream)
If you would like a salad that tastes identical to dessert, Ambrosia Salad is the ticket! Made with recent pineapple, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, coconut, and mini marshmallows and stirred along with a bitter cream/whipped cream dressing.
Diet
Energy: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 3g | Fats: 21g | Saturated Fats: 12g | Ldl cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 31mg | Potassium: 286mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 905IU | Vitamin C: 49mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 1mg
