Description
Summer’s sweetest sensation, classic Cheesecake Fruit Salad blends creamy richness with fresh seasonal fruits. Delightful layers of smooth cheesecake filling and juicy berries create a refreshing dessert you can’t resist savoring.
Ingredients
Scale
Fresh Fruits:
- 2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 cups green apples, chopped
- 1 cup bananas, sliced
- 1 cup pineapple chunks (fresh or canned), drained
- 1 cup grapes (red or green), halved
Dairy and Sweet Components:
- 8 ounces (226 grams) cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
- 1/2 cup caramel sauce (store-bought or homemade)
Instructions
- Meticulously cleanse and segment strawberries, apples, grapes, pineapple, and bananas into uniform bite-sized cubes, ensuring consistent texture throughout the fruit mixture.
- Utilize an electric mixer to whip cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until achieving a silky, homogeneous consistency at room temperature.
- Separately whip the chilled heavy cream until forming sturdy, defined peaks that maintain their structure when beater is lifted.
- Delicately incorporate the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, using gentle folding techniques to preserve the airy texture and prevent deflation.
- Transfer prepared fruit into a spacious mixing vessel, creating an even distribution of different fruit varieties.
- Gently cascade the creamy cheesecake mixture over the fruit, employing a careful folding motion to ensure complete and uniform coating without crushing delicate fruit pieces.
- Optionally adjust sweetness by incrementally introducing additional powdered sugar, tasting to achieve desired flavor profile.
- Artfully drizzle caramel sauce across the surface, creating an elegant pattern that enhances visual appeal and adds rich, buttery undertones.
- Refrigerate the composed salad for minimum 60 minutes at 40°F, allowing flavors to harmonize and mixture to set.
- Prior to serving, optionally garnish with crushed graham crackers for textural contrast and decorative crunch.
Notes
- Select fruits at peak ripeness for maximum sweetness and vibrant flavor profiles.
- Dice fruits uniformly to ensure consistent texture and easy eating experience.
- Prevent banana browning by adding them last and tossing with a splash of lemon juice.
- Adjust cream cheese mixture’s sweetness gradually to match fruit’s natural sugars.
- Use cold mixing bowls and chilled cream for optimal whipped cream volume.
- Keep salad refrigerated to maintain fresh, creamy consistency.
- Customize by swapping fruits based on seasonal availability or personal preferences.
- Consider gluten-free option by using gluten-free graham cracker crumbs as topping.
- Prepare just before serving to prevent fruits from becoming soggy.
- For dairy-free version, substitute cream cheese with coconut cream and whipped coconut topping.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Blending
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
- Calories: 329 kcal
- Sugar: 35 g
- Sodium: 163 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 14 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 72 mg