Happy Cherry Fruit Salad (a yummy recipe)

Happy Cherry Fruit Salad

This is a recipe that someone in my family has made for as long as I can remember and probably well before that. There are various versions of the recipe online, but my grandma made it for every holiday or family gathering when I was growing up and when we moved out of state my mom started making it for each family get-together and even one of my aunt's makes it too. Now I find myself carrying on the recipe in my own way. Each one of us has changed up a bit here and there to make it unique to the occasion. At different times I'll change an ingredient or two in order to make it fresh and fun. I made this for the party at my mom's house today for a celebration of my niece's birthday and an early Easter. I made this for a large amount of people, so for a smaller family it can be cut in half and a pint of cream can be used along with 1 can of the fruits, etc. It's quick and easy to make and while my family serves it along with the meal, it really makes a great dessert too.

Ingredients:

1 - Quart of Heavy Cream (or Whipping Cream. Either one works and while I prefer to use whipping cream, sometimes I can only find heavy cream. Both taste equally as yummy, so there's no real difference in deliciousness.)

2 - (15 oz) cans of Fruit Cocktail

2 - (15 oz) cans of Mandarin Oranges

2 - (1 oz) boxes of White Chocolate Sugar Free/Fat Free Instant Jell-o Pudding mix

Maraschino Cherries (I added quite a few because my family all fight over the cherries)

2 cups of Mini-Marshmallows

Other ingredients that I sometimes add depending on mood. This time around I skipped them.

(Well, to be honest I had the bananas, but forgot them completely as I was making the fruit salad.)

Pineapple chunks

1 or 2 Bananas, sliced into bite sized pieces

Coconut

Directions:

Mix heavy cream (or whipping cream) and Jell-o pudding mix in a large bowl with a mixer. Mix until thick and smooth.

Drain the cans of fruit cocktail and mandarin oranges. Add these and the marshmallows to the bowl and mix into the whipped cream mixture with a large spoon. (This is also when you'd mix in the bananas or pineapple or any other fruit you'd like.) I didn't completely use both cans of the fruit cocktail and oranges, as I just judge how much of a fruit to cream ratio that I want by eye as I'm stirring them in.

Once everything's mixed in nicely, smooth out the top and add cherries to decorate. I made a smiley face just to be silly and that's why I call this the Happy Cherry Fruit Salad, but my mom tends to just place 4 or 5 cherries on top.

Place in refrigerator for a few hours and serve cool.

* A suggestion for the cherries, as their juice can bleed into the cream and turn it pink, I place them on a paper towel and try to drain off any excess juice. The cherries can also be added into the mix if desired.

* My aunt tends to use Pistachio Jell-o pudding mix to get a green color to the cream. My mother and grandma always used sugar instead of Jell-o, so you can see that this is a recipe that can be mixed and matched to taste preferences. I like to use colored marshmallows for fun, but can never find them these days. Do they even make them anymore?