Winter Fruit Salad with Vanilla Whipped Cream
A light and refreshing salad filled with winter citrus and topped with vanilla-scented whipped cream.
This isn’t a typical recipe for me to post here, I know. But it would be misleading of me not to share this salad with you, as I am devouring it on an almost daily basis right now. After all of the indulging I did over the holidays, all I want is fresh fruit and salads for every meal.
I first discovered the bliss of sliced grapefruit, mandarin oranges, and kiwi fruit served together last winter while I was pregnant. I became addicted to it and it was the only reason why I looked forward to winter this year.
I usually enjoy the salad for breakfast or as a snack without the whipped cream. But I’ve found that a dollop of whipped cream goes a long way to dress this dish up for dessert, especially when it’s sweetened with vanilla-scented sugar.
The citrus and kiwi are all in season right now and quite abundant, but don’t feel like you can’t add or substitute whatever fruits you want. Occasionally blueberries, blackberries and mango show up in mine, depending on what looks good at the market.
baking tip:How to make vanilla sugar
There isn’t a specific recipe, all you’ll need is some granulated sugar and vanilla beans. Place them together in a container and let them sit for a week or longer. The more vanilla beans you have in your sugar, the stronger the flavor.
For this batch, I dried out a few vanilla bean pods I had leftover from some homemade vanilla extract. Next time you use a vanilla bean in a recipe, set the pod aside to make some vanilla sugar. If you steeped the vanilla bean (in custard, for example), simply rinse it off and let it dry out on a paper towel for a few days before adding it to the sugar.
Winter Fruit Salad with Vanilla Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 grapefruit , peeled and sliced
- 1 orange, tangerine or clementine , peeled and sliced
- 1 kiwi , peeled and sliced
- Additional fruit as desired
For the whipped cream:
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
Instructions
- In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, beat the whipped cream to soft peaks. Add the vanilla sugar (or sugar and vanilla extract) and beat to stiff peaks.
- Toss the fruit together and top with the whipped cream. Serve immediately. Store any leftover whipped cream in the fridge.
If that tastes remotely as good as it looks I think it will be a staple at our table. Thank you soooo much!
Absolutely beautiful. I love kiwi! Didn’t know it was abundant in the winter. Thanks, Annalise. Very pretty name…
Your photos are stunning! and the presentation is lovely – not to mention I bet it tastes fantastic – what a lovely dessert!
Mary x
This is so pretty! Love this idea!!
How simple and gorgeous! Looks like the perfect dessert after a hearty lunch, or a warm supper. AND I have “Vanillezucker” straight from Germany – what a great use for it!
Gorgeous, Annalise! I love all these fruits and the addition of whipped cream is luxurious while still keeping the salad fresh. Beautiful!
Holy moly. I’ve never seen a more beautiful salad. This is stunning!
I love making vanilla sugar. What a great salad to add it to! YUM!
This looks delish! Nice to find light refreshing desserts, especially, like you said…after all that holiday sweet overload 🙂
That plate is beautiful, where is it from if you don’t mind me asking?
The plate is from anthropology 🙂
This just looks amazing! Beautiful photos!
Gorgeous presentation!
Thanks for this post, this pretty jewel-like salad kept me away from sweet treats like cakes and cookies for a few weeks!
Looks delish! I just picked fresh oranges off the tree, so I am definitely making this dish. Thanks for sharing