Thursday, July 26, 2012

Grandma Marge's Fruit Dessert

Perfect Pairing: Colorful fruit combination
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My grandma Marge was just a peach of a lady.  She was the epitome of a grandma.  My brothers and I knew that if we were going to Grandma Marge’s house we were going to have cheese puffs, pineapple juice, pizza, and unlimited TV viewing.  That is what grandmas are for, right?
Our Christmas presents from Grandma Marge and Grandpa Bob always came in a huge bag.  All of the presents, unwrapped, would go into the bag.  She was some kind of genius to get us excited about that.  She didn’t have to wrap anything, she reused the bag each year, and all of us were jumping out of our skin excited to rip into that bag.
I also remember Grandma Marge being a fantastic cook.  My mom says that she thinks I inherited my love of cooking from her, and that she would be so proud to know I have a cooking site.  Grandma was known for writing all of her recipes in the margins and empty spaces of her cookbooks.  I inherited many of her cookbooks and I love flipping through and finding those secret recipes.  She also had stray recipes stuffed in the cookbook written on napkins and post-it notes.  That is so very me.  I can’t tell you how much I wish I could have a conversation with her about cooking! 


We have a lot of family recipes from Grandma Marge, but my absolute favorite is her fruit dessert.  It is so, so good.  She called it fruit fluff, but I am not a fan of that title.   The crust is almost like shortbread, and it is topped with a pure white fluffy layer of creamy fantasticness.   Each piece is covered with fresh fruit.  It is so pretty and scrumptious.
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The Perfect Pairing for this dessert is a colorful fruit combination.  You can really play with the fruit you serve with this depending on what is in season.  If it is close to July 4th, serve it with strawberries and blueberries.  Personally, I like using kiwis, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries.  I love the contrast of green, orange, red, and blue. 


Grandma Marge's Fruit Dessert
Adapted by Lindsay at Perfecting the Pairing from Grandma Marge

Ingredients:
·         ½ cup unsalted butter, cold, cubed
·         1 cup flour
·         8 oz cream cheese, softened
·         ¾ cup sugar
·         1 tsp vanilla
·         2 cups whipping cream
·         2 ½ cups mini marshmallows
·         6 cups Fresh fruit
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix the butter and flour in a bowl until evenly combined using a pastry cutter or a fork.  Press into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until it just starts to turn golden brown.  Allow to cool completely.
Mix the softened cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla using an electric mixer.  Set aside.  In a separate bowl mix the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  Fold the whipped cream and mini marshmallows into the cream cheese mixture using a spatula.  Spread over cooled crust.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.
Serve with fresh fruit (sliced strawberries, halved seedless grapes, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, kiwi, bananas, etc.).

3 comments:

  1. Great post, Lindsay! This looks like such a yummy, fresh, simple summer dessert - can't wait to try :)

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  2. Family stories and heritage is a wonderful thing, thanks for sharing!

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  3. This is my all-time favorite dessert, Lindsay. How I wish you could chat with Grandma Marge about your cooking blog. She would be so proud. How she loved cooking for family!

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