Gingered and Minty Fruit Salad

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April 28, 2015 by Bloke In A Kitchen

One of the joys of Summer is the tucking into some cool refreshing fruit on a scorching hot day. Fruit salads are a great way of making a dessert with very little effort, and by being a little bit creative with the syrup, you can transform this old favourite into something a bit special.

The recipe below is just a template really, feel free to add as many different fruits as you wish, and make it really explode with colour. Try out your very own ideas and create your own unique syrup flavours; perhaps add some orange / lemon juice, or try adding some lemongrass stalks to the syrup for its unique zesty flavour. My personal favourite is a South-East Asian style syrup made with fresh ginger, fresh chilli, a heap of sugar and serving icy cold – it’s amazing.

Ingredients

150ml water
90g caster sugar
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Small handful of fresh mint leaves (removed from stalk)
Juice of half a lime
1 melon
Fresh fruit of your choice (such as blueberries, peaches, strawberries, kiwi fruit, apples, grapes)

Method

Put the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir well, and let it boil merrily for 5 minutes to make a slightly thickened syrup. Meanwhile, roughly chop the ginger and mint.

Once your syrup is made, squeeze in the lime juice. Put the ginger and mint in a small bowl, and pour the liquid over them, and allow to cool.

Now prepare your fruit. Chop the fruit into bite-size pieces and put in a large bowl. Melon is the perfect base for any fruit salad and absorbs the flavours of the syrup beautifully, and ginger brings out the very best of it. Add your other fruit as desired.

Place a sieve over the bowl of fruit, and pour in the gingery mint syrup. Discard the mint and ginger. Mix well and allow to chill in the fridge for an hour to allow the flavour to marinate the fruit.

Serve chilled

Note: It’s best not to add banana as they tend to brown and go too squidgy, unless you add them when serving. Likewise, very soft fruit like raspberries are also best added immediately before serving.