Make Fruit Cream

Fruit cream is a dessert that’s popular in India. It’s made by mixing bite-sized fruit pieces with whipped cream, sour cream, and sugar, so it’s a tasty and easy way to get kids and adults alike to eat more fruit. Fruit cream itself is a wonderful dessert or holiday treat, but it can also be used to make other sweets, such as pies and trifles.

Ingredients

Fruit Cream

Serves 6 people

• 1 cup (237 ml) whipping cream
• ½ cup (115 g) sour cream
• ¼ cup (56 g) sugar
• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced
• ½ cup (83 g) pineapple, diced
• ¼ cup (38 g) strawberries, sliced
• ¼ cup (43 g) grapes, halved
• ½ banana, sliced
• 1 tablespoon (8 g) walnuts, crushed
• 1 tablespoon (8 g) almonds, sliced
• 2 strawberries for garnishing, sliced

Pie Crust

Serves 8 people

• 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, cubed and chilled
• 1½ cups (250 g) flour
• ½ teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
• ½ tablespoon (7 g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (34 g) vegetable shortening, chilled
• ¼ cup (60 ml) ice water

Fruit Cream Trifle

Serves 10 people

• Prepared fruit cream, ungarnished
• 4 cups (968 g) whipped cream
• 1 prepared angel food cake
• 2 tablespoons walnuts, almonds, or other nuts, sliced
• 2 strawberries for garnishing, sliced

Steps

Making the Fruit Cream

1. Chill the whipping cream, a bowl, and beaters. Whipping cream whips better when the cream and the tools are chilled. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Refrigerate the bowl and the electric beaters or the whisk attachment from a stand mixer for at least 15 minutes.
   • When making fruit cream, you can substitute 2 cups (150 g) of whipped topping for the whipped cream.
2. Make the whipped cream. Remove the bowl, the cream, and the beaters from the fridge. Add the sugar, and beat the cream on medium speed for about eight minutes, until the cream doubles in volume and forms stiff peaks.
   • When the cream forms stiff peaks, it means it will hold its shape when you remove the beaters or stir it.
   • You can use either granulated sugar or confectioners’ sugar to sweeten the fruit cream. Granulated sugar won’t have the same hint of starchiness that confectioners’ sugar has, but the cornstarch in the confectioners’ sugar will help stabilize the whipped cream.
3. Beat in the sour cream. Pour the sour cream into the bowl with the sweetened whipped cream. Use your beaters, the stand mixer, or a whisk to whip in the sour cream for about a minute on medium speed.
   • Whipping the sour and whipped cream together ensures the fruit cream will have a light and airy texture. Otherwise, the sour cream could make the mixture heavy and dense.
   • You can also use Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream.
4. Fold in the fruit. Add all the prepared fruit to the bowl with the cream, reserving the nuts and the two strawberries for garnish. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the fruit into the cream until the fruit is distributed evenly and completely coated with cream. Avoid stirring vigorously to prevent mashing the fruit. You can substitute any of the fruit in the recipe for your favorite fruits, including:
   • Pomegranate
   • Guava
   • Apple
   • Pear
   • Peach
   • Kiwi
   • Cantaloupe
   • Mandarin orange
5. Garnish with nuts and strawberries before serving. Transfer the fruit cream to a large serving bowl. Spread a layer of strawberry slices over the top of the fruit cream. To finish, sprinkle with the nuts to add a nice crunch and a new texture to the dish.
   • You can use any nuts to garnish the fruit cream, including pistachios, cashews, or hazelnuts.

Turning the Fruit Cream Into a Pie

1. Combine the dry ingredients, butter, and shortening to make the pie crust. To start, add the flour, salt, and sugar to a food processor. Pulse them a few times to combine. Then add the chilled butter cubes and the shortening, pulsing the mixture together.
   • Pulse about 10 times. The mixture is ready when it comes together into pea-sized crumbs.
   • To ensure the butter is cold enough, place it in the freezer for at least 15 minutes before making the dough.
   • If you don’t have a food processor, combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter or two knives to mix everything together.
2. Add the water. Once you have pea-sized crumbs, continue pulsing the food processor as you gradually add the water. Add the water in 1-tablespoon (15-ml) increments and keep pulsing until everything comes together as a doughy ball.
   • You may not need the entire ¼ cup (60 ml) of water to bring everything together. Only use as much as you need to form a dough.
3. Chill the dough. Wrap the dough in a piece of plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for about half an hour. This will help chill the butter again, which will make it easier to work with and ensure the pie crust is light and flaky.
   • You can also double this recipe if you'd like a second pie crust for something else, or to keep in the freezer for later use.
4. Roll out the dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. With a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough into a circle. With each roll, start in the center of the dough and roll outward toward the edge. Then rotate the dough ⅛ turn and roll again from the center to the edge.
   • Add more flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking.
   • Continue rolling and rotating the dough until your dough is about ⅛ inch (0.3 cm) thick.
5. Transfer the dough to a pie plate. Use your fingers to mold the dough into a nine-inch pie plate. If the dough is hanging over the edge by more than ¾ inch (1.9 cm), trim off the excess.
   • To make it easier to transfer the dough, fold it in half before picking it up and moving it to the pie plate. Position it in the plate and then unfold the dough.
6. Bake the pie shell. Preheat your oven to 350 F (177 C). Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. This will prevent the dough from puffing up during the baking process. Bake the shell like this for 10 to 15 minutes, until the edges become golden brown.
   • Once the pie shell has set, remove it from the oven. Remove the weights and the parchment paper. Return the shell to the oven for another five to 10 minutes, until the bottom becomes a light golden brown.
7. Cool the pie shell. When the pie shell is ready, remove it from the oven and set it aside to cool to room temperature. Place the pie plate on a wire rack to allow air underneath. This will help the pie shell cool faster.
   • The pie shell should be ready to fill after one to two hours.
8. Fill the pie shell. Spoon in enough of the fruit cream mixture to fill the pie shell. Use the spoon to spread the mixture around evenly.
   • If you're making fruit cream for a pie, fill the pie shell first, and then garnish the top of the fruit cream with the nuts and extra berries.

Making Fruit Cream Trifle

1. Gather your supplies. Trifle is a layered dessert dish that typically alternates between layers of cake, fruit, and cream or custard. To make a fruit cream trifle, you'll need your ingredients, a mixing spoon, and a clear glass serving or trifle bowl. The bowl should be around three quarts, or 12 cups, or roughly eight inches (20 cm) wide, across, and deep. For the cake layers, you can use:
   • A sponge or angel food cake
   • A package of ladyfingers
   • A pound cake
2. Put down the first layer. In the bottom of the trifle bowl, lay down a single layer of cake or ladyfingers. If necessary, cut the pieces down so that they fit the bottom of the bowl to coat the bottom completely.
   • If you're using angel food, sponge, or pound cake, cut the cake into one-inch (2.5-cm) thick slices for the cake layers.
3. Add a fruit layer. Pour a layer of fruit cream over the cake layer. You can make the fruit cream layer as thick as you like, but a good rule of thumb is to make it about two inches (5 cm) thick.
   • When you’ve added a layer of fruit cream, add another layer of cake, followed by another layer of berries.
   • Continue layering this way until you fill the trifle bowl.
4. Finish with whipped cream and garnish. Finish the trifle with a final layer of fruit cream. Then garnish the top with the extra whipped cream, and sprinkle on the berries and nuts, just like you would with regular fruit cream.
   • Serve the trifle at the table so everyone can see the presentation. Then use a spoon to dole out individual portions, making sure that each portion gets cake and berries from each layer.

Things You'll Need

Fruit Cream

• Large mixing bowl
• Electric beaters
• Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
• Glass serving bowl

Pie Crust

• Food processor
• Plastic wrap
• Rolling pin
• Nine-inch pie plate

Fruit Cream Trifle

• Mixing spoon
• Three-quart trifle bowl

Related Articles

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• Make a Chilled Fruit Salad
• Make Marshmallow Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
• Snack on Frozen Fruit

Sources and Citations

See also

• Make Vanilla Panna Cotta
• Make Crème Brulée
• Make Flan
• Make Clotted Cream
• Make Crème Caramel
• Make a Sugar Topping for a Creme Brulee
• Make Easy Clotted Cream
• Make Blancmange