I love making simple but delicious fruit salads. They are so easy to make for dessert, a snack or even dinner.
Depending on the time of year and type of fruits that are in season you can completely change the taste and flavor of a fruit salad.
Types of fruit salads
You can make a simple mixed fruit salad made with only three or four types of fruit or in the winter when citrus is in season a you can make a fresh citrus salad.
When I make a citrus salad I like to sprinkle just a tiny bit of sugar over the citrus fruit and let a light syrup develop while the fruit chills.
When the summer berries are in season I really love to top a bowl of mixed berries and banana slices with a dollop of homemade crème fraiche that I have sweetened.
What is Crème Fraiche?
Crème fraiche is French for "fresh cream", a thick cultured sour cream dairy product much like sour cream in the United States.
It is a little expensive and not widely available in the US but can be found in some stores where the imported dairy and cheese products are located.
Crème fraiche can be used just like sour cream. And homemade crème fraiche is very easy to make!
My favorite way to eat it is sweetened and spooned over fruit salad. It makes a wonderful sweet, tart creamy fruit salad dressing.
How to make fruit salad with crème fraiche
Fruit salad is very easy to make. All you need is a combination of fresh and seasonal fruits.
Step 1: Make the crème fraiche at least 24 - 48 hours before serving. You can find the step by step instruction to how I make homemade cultured crème fraiche in the recipe card below.
Step 2: Prep the fresh fruit.
Slice the strawberries and bananas, and cube the apples. Put the fruit in a large bowl and toss together to combine.
To prevent the apple and banana from browning you can toss the fruit with a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice or use a fruit browning product like Fruit Fresh.
Recipe Expert Tips
- Homemade Creme fraiche: Make the crème fraiche at least 24 hours before needed.
- Fruit: Use a combination of in season fresh fruit.
- Prevent browning fruit: Sprinkle the fruit with a few tablespoons of lemon juice or a product like Fruit Fresh to prevent browning.
- Culturing fresh cream: The crème fraiche is cultured in the first 24 hours and then it needs to be chilled for at least 12 to 24 hours to thicken.
- Crème fraiche mother: Once you make the first batch of homemade crème fraiche you will then use about ½ cup of the mother batch to make the next batch. You can keep doing this for months. Each batch of homemade crème fraiche lasts 2-3 weeks and can be used sweetened to top a fruit salad or can be used in place of sour cream in any recipe that calls for sour cream.
More fruit salad recipes you'll love
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Fruit Salad with Crème Fraiche
Ingredients
Crème Fraiche Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup lowfat buttermilk with live cultures
Fruit Salad Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries washed, hulled and sliced
- 1 cup blueberries rinsed
- 2 medium bananas sliced
- 1 whole crisp apple, peeled, cored and cubed
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
Make the Crème Fraiche First
- Begin in the morning 24 hours before serving the fruit salad.
- Mix the heavy whipping cream and buttermilk in a quart size jar or a bowl. Loosely cover with cheesecloth or a clean dish towel. So air can circulate.
- Place the jar in a warm area of the kitchen free of cold drafts for 12 hours. Check the crème fraiche after 12 hours. The crème should be thicker than sour cream.
- If it has thickened remove the towel or cheesecloth. Cover the container and refrigerate overnight to thicken even more.
To Make Sweetened Crème Fraiche
- Remove 1 cup of the crème fraiche from the container and put it into a small bowl or airtight container.
- Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir well.. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Store the remaining crème fraiche in the container in the refrigerator for another use.
To Serve Fruit Salad with Crème Fraiche
- Fill a small bowl with about a cup of the mixed fruit salad.
- Stir the sweetened creme fraiche well and spoon some over the fruit.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe Expert Tips
- The homemade crème fraiche takes 12 hour to culture. You will then chill for an additional 12-24 hours before using so the crème fraiche has a chance to chill and thicken.
- Once chilled it can be as thick as sour cream or in some cases almost as thick as room temperature butter.
- Fruit: Fruit salad can be made with any combination of seasonal fruit.
- Crème fraiche mother: Once you make the first batch of homemade crème fraiche you will then use about ½ cup of the mother batch to make the next batch. You can keep doing this for months. Each batch of homemade crème fraiche lasts 2-3 weeks and can be used sweetened to top a fruit salad or can be used in place of sour cream in any recipe that calls for sour cream.
- Prevent browning fruit: Sprinkle the fruit with a few tablespoons of lemon juice or a product like Fruit Fresh to prevent browning.
- Culturing fresh cream: The crème fraiche is cultured in the first 24 hours and then it needs to be chilled for at least 12 to 24 hours to thicken.
- Crème fraiche mother: Once you make the first batch of homemade crème fraiche you will then use about ½ cup of the mother batch to make the next batch. You can keep doing this for months. Each batch of homemade crème fraiche lasts 2-3 weeks and can be used sweetened to top a fruit salad or can be used in place of sour cream in any recipe that calls for sour cream.
