Grandé Fruit Bowl is cool, light, refreshing and healthy for these hot summer days. It makes use of the abundance of fresh fruit, and is a perfect appetizer, salad, dessert, or snack for any occasion.
For the extra special adult occasions, I infuse the fruit with a mixture of dry white wine and Grand Marnier. The wine and Grand Mariner produce a hint of an extraordinary flavor in the fruit. However, that's totally optional.
Here's What You'll Need For This Recipe
One of the nice things about this incredible dish is that you can really use whatever combination of fruit you desire.
- The Fruit: For the fruit, I used watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, fresh pineapple and white seedless grapes.
- Flavor Enhancers: To enhance the flavor of the fruit, I add a mixture of Chardonnay, Grand Mariner and granulated sugar. This is totally optional, but oh so good!
Preparing the Fruit for the Grandé Fruit Bowl:
- I started by using the smaller end of a melon baller to scoop balls of watermelon. This takes time, but it produces perfect bite-sized pieces of fruit.
- I also used the smaller end of a melon baller to scoop balls of honeydew melon and cantaloupe.
- I cut the pineapple into ½-inch chunks and left the grapes whole.
Putting the Grandé Fruit Bowl Together
Once the fruit was prepared, it was time to put the Grandé Fruit Bowl together.
- I started by mixing together the Chardonnay, Grand Mariner and sugar. I wanted to ensure that the sugar was dissolved, so I heated the mixture in the microwave for 30 seconds and stirred it well.
- When the wine mixture was ready, I transferred all of the fruit to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Then, I poured the wine mixture over the fruit.
- I sealed the Ziploc bag and put it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow the flavors to blend together.
Serving the Grandé Fruit Bowl:
Grandé Fruit Bowl is one of my favorite recipes during the hot summer months.
If I'm serving it at an informal gathering of friends, I like to use the scooped-out watermelon as a bowl. When I do this, I cut 2-inch triangles around the perimeter of the top of the melon and add the fruit.
When I don't want to bother using the scooped out melon, I serve the Grandé Fruit Bowl in a trifle bowl or other clear bowl.
For a sit-down dinner, I like to prepare individual servings using small trifle bowls.
However I serve the Grandé Fruit Bowl, it's always a crowd pleaser. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
If I'm serving the Grandé Fruit Bowl to company, I really like to go the extra step and use a melon baller for the watermelon, honeydew melon and cantaluope. However, that's totally optional.
If you're serving the fruit bowl to children, you should definitely skip the addition of the alcohol. For some extra flavor, however, consider adding ½ cup of fresh orange juice to the fruit.
In the past, I've used fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and mandarin oranges in this recipe.
Looking for another amazing use for watermelon? You should hop on over to my Southern Watermelon Granita. You won't be disappointed!
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Recipe
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Grandé Fruit Bowl
Ingredients
- 4 cups watermelon balls (See Tip 1)
- 2 cups cantaloupe balls
- 2 cups honeydew melon balls
- 2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into ½-inch chunks
- 2 cups white seedless grapes
- ½ cup (4-ounces) dry white wine (See Tips 2 and 4)
- ½ cup (4-ounces) Grand Marnier (See Tips 3 and 4)
- ¼ cup (1.75-ounces) granulated sugar (See Tip 4)
Instructions
- Combine all fruit in a gallon Ziploc bag. (See Tip 5)
- Stir together the wine, Grand Marnier, and sugar. Microwave for 30 seconds, or until sugar is dissolved.
- Pour wine mixture over fruit in Ziploc bag. Seal Ziploc bag, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to allow the flavors to blend together.
- Serve in scooped out watermelon bowl, or clear bowl.
- Yield: 12 servings.
Tips/Notes
- I like to use seedless watermelon for this recipe.
- I like to use a nice Chardonnay, but any good dry white wine will work.
- You can use another type or orange liqueur such as Cointreau in place of the Grand Marnier.
- If desired, you can omit the wine, Grand Mariner and sugar, and replace it with ½ cup of orange juice.
- In addition to the fruit used here, you can use a lot of different combinations such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries or mandarin oranges.
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