Secret Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding Mix – Recipe Review

Hey guys, after posting about buttercream for the past two weeks, I thought it was time for a gorgeously vibrant, fresh, summery dessert!

A while ago, I came across this recipe for ‘Secret Fruit Salad‘ by Rachel Schultz on Pinterest. The salad is actually made by mixing fresh fruit, like summery berries, with instant vanilla pudding mix, and man, I just had to pin it… Those colors! Plus, I really liked the sound of making a fruit salad – which is obviously delicious on its own already – taste even better, so last Tuesday, when my little sister was staying over, we decided to give the recipe a go!

Oh, and don’t worry, we also ate plenty of chocolate and cookies… We’re totally normal like that!

Although the recipe is very (VERY!) straightforward – prep fruit, sprinkle over pudding mix, stir, done – we still managed to screw it up a bit by using the wrong kind of pudding mix on the first go.

See, we used custard powder. And everyone who has ever made custard using custard powder knows that, while the end result is certainly vanilla pudding, you have to cook the stuff on the stove!

Seriously guys, don’t be like us and use the instant vanilla pudding mix that doesn’t need to be cooked after you’ve added it to the milk. In other words: use the pudding mix that just needs to be whisked into cold milk. The custard powder – and, I can imagine, any mix that needs to be cooked – gave the salad a very unpleasant chalky aftertaste…Yuck…

Don’t. Use. It.

After that initial fail, I went out and bought the right pudding mix and, yes, it really did take the fruit salad over the top!

I only added a little – only one teaspoon of pudding mix to 750 grams (about 1 and a half pounds) of fruit – but I thought it made a huge difference. The pudding mix adds a subtle hint of vanilla and thickens the fruit juices ever so slightly, coating the fruit is a thin layer of vanilla-y deliciousness!

If you want to, you can always add a bit more pudding mix. Just make sure to allow the salad to sit for a while so that the pudding mix can soak up all those fruit juices! 

If you ask me, this is the perfect treat to bring to a picnic or barbecue!

Enjoy guys!

Secret Fruit Salad with Vanilla Pudding Mix

 

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Prep time

35 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

This recipe serves 4, but can easily be doubled or tripled for larger parties.

Author: Adapted from Rachel Schultz

Ingredients

• 750g fresh fruit, I used strawberries, pineapple, raspberries and blueberries
• 1 teaspoon dry instant vanilla pudding mix*

Instructions

1. Wash (and slice) the fruit. Combine it in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Sieve the pudding mix over the top of the fruit, then toss until evenly coated. Allow to sit for at least half an hour in the fridge so that the pudding mix has time to soak up all the fruit juices.
3. Serve immediately or cover with plastic wrap and serve the next day.

Notes

* I achieved best results with an instant pudding mix that doesn't need to be cooked, but is just whisked into milk (like Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding). I tried making this salad with custard powder (which needs to be cooked) but it made the fruit salad unpleasantly chalky.

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