Growing up, this fruit salad was always on the table for Christmas dinner. I think it might have been the only day of the year that we had it. I hadn’t thought about it in years until last year when I was hosting my annual Christmas lunch for my family. I asked my mom for the recipe because I thought it would be a fun throwback for us. This past Christmas, I made it for an office breakfast. It was a hit and I was asked for the recipe. This is exactly the kind of food that I don’t want to forget and the reason I started this blog.
This is essentially a combination of fruit of your choice mixed with a custard dressing. It’s fairly decadent. You can use whatever fruit you want. I keep it simple as was the salad of my childhood. Fresh fruit was pretty basic in the southeastern KY grocery stores in the 1980s (and hasn’t changed much). We supplemented what was available fresh with canned fruit.
This makes probably around 2 cups of dressing. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two days. I accidentally shattered my measuring bowl the night before I made this so I don’t have an exact measurement of how much fruit I used. I would say maybe 6 cups. I used a combination of apples, grapes, bananas, canned oranges and canned pineapple. Make sure to drain the canned fruit well or it will make your salad a little runny.
Fruit Salad Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsps flour
dash of salt
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 egg beaten
1 cup canned evaporated milk
Pour juice, egg and evaporated milk into a small saucepan and turn it on medium heat. Mix together the dry ingredients then slowly stir them into the pan. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to stir until dressing thickens. Once thick, remove from heat and let cool before adding to your fruit.
Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until time to serve. For variation, you can add some chopped walnuts or mini marshmallows.