CREAMY COCONUT FRUIT SALAD

That’s right, I’m real Southern. Y’all can tell because miniature marshmallows in a salad don’t even cause me to blink. In my travels, I’ve found marshmallows in salad to be more common when you get south of Louisville, Kentucky. This ambrosia recipe has made me a star on the potluck circuit, especially when I serve it anywhere outside the Southeast. Sour cream is whipped with a dash of coconut extract and sugar for the dressing, then folded into a combination of fresh and sweetened fruits. When the marshmallows lounge around in the fruit juices, getting all snuggled up next to the apricots, it’s my favorite part of this salad.

Makes 6 servings

ONE 15-OUNCE CAN MANDARIN ORANGES, DRAINED

1½ CUPS DICED FRESH PINEAPPLE

1 CUP SEEDLESS RED GRAPES, HALVED

ONE 15.25-OUNCE CAN APRICOTS, DRAINED AND DICED

2 CUPS MINIATURE MARSHMALLOWS

1 CUP SWEETENED FLAKED COCONUT

¾ CUP SOUR CREAM, KEPT VERY COLD

½ TEASPOON COCONUT EXTRACT

2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR

1. Combine the oranges, pineapple, grapes, apricots, marshmallows, and coconut in a large bowl.

2. Using a very cold whisk and a very cold, large bowl, whip the sour cream, coconut extract, and sugar until fluffy.

3. Fold the fruit mixture into the sour cream mixture. Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge and serve cold.

SOUTHERN SIMPLE: If you have never whipped sour cream, you might have found a new addition to many of your favorite dishes. It will whip up nicely if you make sure the sour cream and your bowl and whisk are cold, cold, cold.

SOUTHERN SIMPLE: Serve this make-ahead salad with Vacation Crabmeat Quiche for a brunch that’s done even before company comes.

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My aunt Gail is one of the sweetest, most generous people I know. She never had children of her own, so she spoils the rest of us to no end. And we love it! Everyone is drawn to her—even the stray kittens and pups that somehow show up on her doorstep waiting for some of that special treatment. Aunt Gail loves salads of all sorts and this is one of her favorites.

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