Sometimes a Bliss experiment turns out right.
Like my Fruit in a Jar.
I usually make fruit pizza, so why not put it in jars right?
Everyone else does.
I bet you're thinking '
yeah so what Bliss, I've seen fruit in a jar a million times' and you're asking yourself what makes my fruit in a jar different than any body elses?
Heck if I
know, I've never had theirs, so let me tell you how I make
mine......
It's all in the cream.
The family looked at the jars and said "what's this?". The
tone they used made me think they didn't mean the food
inside the
jars, I think it was more like "what's
with the jars?" with an undertone from the males of "you crazy woman".
The crust.
I don't use a cookie crust like the original recipe calls for. Too sweet and crumbly for my taste. I use The Dough-boy croissants in a can. 2 tubes for 12 jars. I lightly sprinkle it with powdered sugar before I bake it, not too much, just enough so it doesn't taste like bread.
Hand shape the croissants out flat in a pan, cookie sheet size is fine, oven time a bit less than what's on the tube, and watch them so they don't get over done. Take them out when light golden brown, cover to keep moist and let them cool, then slice them up into crouton size - I used a pizza cutter.
Fruit.
Start with fresh fruit. The kind of fruit doesn't matter, get what your family likes.
For these jars I used 7 fruits:
Mango, Kiwi, Nectarine, Banana, Apple, Strawberries, and Blackberries.
I tossed the banana in fresh squeezed lime juice so they wouldn't get brown.
In the past I have also used oranges, pineapple, blueberries and grapes.
It's all good.
The Cream.
According to my husband the most important part is the whipped cream. Outside in the heat, even sitting in ice, regular hand-whipped-honest-to-goodness-whipped-cream breaks down and soon you are left with fruit in thick sweet milk.
Make these ahead, and chill in the fridge first if you are taking them outside in the summer. Outside I kept ours on ice for a couple hours before we dug in.
I had to come up with a cream recipe to please more than just myself.
Not too sweet, had to have the real whip cream flavor, couldn't break down under the weight of the fruit or the days heat, and had to taste good to the toughest whip cream critics at my house.
Bliss's Beat the Heat Whipped Cream topping:
1 container of cool whip
Real Whipping Cream that you have to get beaters out to make
1 Brick of Cream Cheese
Powder Sugar to taste and add as your are whipping
Mix the softened cream cheese and cool whip till smooth with a hand mixer. Then start adding heavy whipping cream. I'd say for the 12 jars I probably added 4 cups. I didn't really measure, just stuck my finger in till it tasted like whipped cream and not cool whip.
Whip it till it's sturdy.
The cool whip and cream cheese give it a smooth but firm texture, and how much powdered sugar you use is a personal preference. We like to taste the cream so I make mine just slightly sweet so it doesn't over power the sweetness of the fruit.
To put the jars together:
I dropped in the crouton sized croissant crust pieces, fruit, cream, repeat, ending with cream topped with fruit and croissant pieces. It was light, yummy, and importantly, it held up outside in the heat.
One son liked it so much he took an extra home with him.
The one in the blue ball jar.
I sent him a text letting him know I want to keep the blue jar so bring it back some time.
Think I'll ever see it again?
Simple strawberry & blueberry trifle with blueberry pound cake
and Bliss's Beat the Heat Whip Cream
Keep cool and your whip cream too!