Try Alton Brown's take on the Southern classic ambrosia, a holiday fruit salad with clementines, pineapples, maraschino cherries and even marshmallows.

Ambrosia

heavy cream

sugar

sour cream

mini

clementine orange segments, approximately 6 clementines

pineapple

coconut

pecans

maraschino cherries

Place the cream and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip until stiff peaks are formed. Add the sour cream and whisk to combine. Add the marshmallows, orange, pineapple, coconut, pecans and cherries and stir to combine. Transfer to a glass serving bowl, cover and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours before serving.

I used nothing but fresh fruit except for the cherries, of course. Bought the fresh coconut from Whole Foods so I wouldn't have to deal with that whole process. Only thing I didn't make from scratch was the homemade marshmallows. This was fantastic! NO leftovers. I was transported back to the 1960s!

Some kinda delicious. I admit I *was* planning to use the coconut in the bag, not to mention store-bought marshmallows and canned mandarin oranges and pineapples. But the video made me feel guilty, and I did the entire thing fresh, cracking my own coconut and everything. Now I am thinking the pre-shredded coconut is the reason I've never liked ambrosia. This stuff is fantastic. The marshmallows really make it -- they melt in your mouth. I actually was not crazy about the pecans in there. 
The whole thing is a big, time-consuming production, for sure. I made it for my son's Percy Jackson-themed birthday party and was glad I put in the effort. It's finally ambrosia worth eating.


I have to admit Ambrosia is one of my favorite things to eat.  It's delightfully retro and such a burst of all kinds of flavors in every single bite.  But don't fool yourself -- this is a very labor intensive dessert to make if you go scratch.  It will take you at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours to prepare everything (the coconut was a real pain) and you have to make the marshmellows the night before.  It is however better than the "prepared" version with store bought coconut etc...but everything here requires a lot of preparation -- even the sugar syrup for the marshmellows...mine boiled over and made a total mess out of my stovetop and floor!  But for really special occasions, I would go with the scratch version.  Other times, go with the store bought -- in my opinion, it's justifiably almost as good.

I add a granny smith apple to mine , about a cup, makes it much better I think

Once you'v had Alton's Ambrosia salad you will never eat that canned fruit grocery store stuff again. As always Alton makes life tastier.

This recipe is one of the best, but I have to admit I use the mix colored mini marshmallows as a ode to my Aunt who made her own ambrosia. 

Perfect even though I used fruit in pre-packaged fruit cups to save time instead of cutting up fresh fruit.  I also used pre-packaged coconut flakes instead of freshly grated coconut.  I eliminated the pecans and substituted 1/2 of the pineapple with 1/2 cup of peaches.  I also cut the maraschino cherries.

Love it-just like my Italian mother in law made❤️

I am making this for the 3rd time for a very large group at their request  - I quadruple the size and add grapes (cut in half) along with the fresh pineapple.  Skipped the homemade marshmallows - I did that in my Martha Stewart days and not worth the effort and mess.  Quick to put together, just allow the "soak" time.  Bulk coconut (the grainy kind) works great vs fresh.

I made this for Easter family dinner--it did not last long!  Delicious!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/southern-ambrosia-salad-0196014

In this Good Eats video, Alton Brown details why this simple and quick southern classic is the perfect holiday recipe.

ambrosia

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Servings: 6

Cost: $4.19 /serving

Author : Alton Brown

Ingredients

Instructions

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