Tutti Frutti
No world is more wondrous than the world of old-fashioned desserts. I am a big fan of them, especially the really wacky olde-tymey ones. One of my first published recipes was for a food magazine where I shared pages with company as august as Erma Bombeck and Judith Krantz. That recipe was for Cantaloupe Lillian Russell, a gaslight era concoction as ornamental as its namesake and as quaint as a blueberry bibble or raspberry phosphate. My favorite dessert in the world is grandma spice cake, but I also love ice cream bars, salt water taffy, butterscotch -- even mincemeat. If didn't also bake cakes and cookies, not to mention make a helluva banana pudding, no one would ever invite me to dessert parties.
Beyond look-at-me anecdotes and hipster posturing, there is serious work afoot among archivists of old-fashioned desserts. From the urbane excesses of the gaslight era frou-frous noted above to the homespun treasures of the historic American table, desserts -- because they are festive, often meant to highlight celebrations -- reveal much about the places where they originated and the times during which they were popular. No cold war hostess was at her mostest absent a show-stopping finale of baked Alaska, whose contradictions melted onto the plate like ice in a Black Russian. Grandmothers since time immemorial have upheld the highest standards for rice pudding, whether the cinnamony glop of midwestern mornings or the baked east coast version that is topped with the same singed meringue as that Alaska. Placed upon countless dessert tiers have been rose water gelatins, rhubarb dowdies, cherry pavlovae, fluffy trifles, and showy marjolaines, to name but a few.
Also common to the old-fashioned sideboard are fruit compotes. A compote is a mixture of fresh fruit, cooked in simple syrup or macerated in brandy or liqueur. Compotes are typically served as an accompaniment to dessert -- dabbed onto a slice of angel food cake, tumbled over a scoop of ice cream -- rather than as dessert itself. But it is of note that a compote of macerated fruit, typically but not definitively stone fruits, is often found on the sideboard of middle European dinner tables, such as sautéed apples to accompany pork or brandied plums for Bigos.
Many remember Tutti Frutti as a fad ice cream flavor of the American mid-century. It was hot pink in color, with minty green ribbons and candylike multi-colored flecks. But beyond, and before, children's birthday parties, Tutti Frutti is a compote of fresh fruit, macerated in sugar and brandy. It's name is a corruption of the Italian phrase for "all fruit" that makes the dish about as authentically Italian as spumoni, but also like spumoni, tutti frutti is so playful that the name is part of the charm.
Tutti Frutti is traditionally put up in a stone crock where it macerates slowly and continuously, to be dipped into once seasoned and replenished as needed. One could still make that kind of Tutti Frutti, but I like to seal it into canning jars using the method below. Correctly done, hot water bath canning reduces -- in fact, nearly eliminates -- the potential for fungal or bacteriological growth that can occur with crocking. One jar of Tutti Frutti should be enough per special appearance on your dessert table, with leftovers the next morning to spoon over yogurt or eat by itself.
Now is the time to make Tutti Frutti, as fruit is at its peak of quality and availability and it will be ready in time for September's harvest celebrations. Give jars of Tutti Frutti as holiday gifts, and don't forget to enter a jar into competition at the county fair. I can't guarantee a blue ribbon, but I can guarantee a smile and nod of appreciation from judges both officialized and in your own home, who all will be charmed that someone is remembering Tutti Frutti, and honoring it by making it.
Tutti Frutti
It is essential to follow safe canning practices. For instructions on safe canning, click here: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html, or here http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started.aspx. This recipe should yield about 8 - 10 half-pints.
2 - 3 pounds mixed ripe stone fruit, such as nectarines, apricots, and plums (see note below)
1 - 2 pounds mixed berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries (see note below)
3/4 - 1 pound mixed apples and pears (see note below)
1/2 pound seedless black or red grapes (see note below)
1/2 pound cherries
White sugar
Lemon juice
Brandy
Ground cinnamon
Make the Tutti Frutti
Beyond look-at-me anecdotes and hipster posturing, there is serious work afoot among archivists of old-fashioned desserts. From the urbane excesses of the gaslight era frou-frous noted above to the homespun treasures of the historic American table, desserts -- because they are festive, often meant to highlight celebrations -- reveal much about the places where they originated and the times during which they were popular. No cold war hostess was at her mostest absent a show-stopping finale of baked Alaska, whose contradictions melted onto the plate like ice in a Black Russian. Grandmothers since time immemorial have upheld the highest standards for rice pudding, whether the cinnamony glop of midwestern mornings or the baked east coast version that is topped with the same singed meringue as that Alaska. Placed upon countless dessert tiers have been rose water gelatins, rhubarb dowdies, cherry pavlovae, fluffy trifles, and showy marjolaines, to name but a few.
Also common to the old-fashioned sideboard are fruit compotes. A compote is a mixture of fresh fruit, cooked in simple syrup or macerated in brandy or liqueur. Compotes are typically served as an accompaniment to dessert -- dabbed onto a slice of angel food cake, tumbled over a scoop of ice cream -- rather than as dessert itself. But it is of note that a compote of macerated fruit, typically but not definitively stone fruits, is often found on the sideboard of middle European dinner tables, such as sautéed apples to accompany pork or brandied plums for Bigos.
Many remember Tutti Frutti as a fad ice cream flavor of the American mid-century. It was hot pink in color, with minty green ribbons and candylike multi-colored flecks. But beyond, and before, children's birthday parties, Tutti Frutti is a compote of fresh fruit, macerated in sugar and brandy. It's name is a corruption of the Italian phrase for "all fruit" that makes the dish about as authentically Italian as spumoni, but also like spumoni, tutti frutti is so playful that the name is part of the charm.
Tutti Frutti is traditionally put up in a stone crock where it macerates slowly and continuously, to be dipped into once seasoned and replenished as needed. One could still make that kind of Tutti Frutti, but I like to seal it into canning jars using the method below. Correctly done, hot water bath canning reduces -- in fact, nearly eliminates -- the potential for fungal or bacteriological growth that can occur with crocking. One jar of Tutti Frutti should be enough per special appearance on your dessert table, with leftovers the next morning to spoon over yogurt or eat by itself.
Now is the time to make Tutti Frutti, as fruit is at its peak of quality and availability and it will be ready in time for September's harvest celebrations. Give jars of Tutti Frutti as holiday gifts, and don't forget to enter a jar into competition at the county fair. I can't guarantee a blue ribbon, but I can guarantee a smile and nod of appreciation from judges both officialized and in your own home, who all will be charmed that someone is remembering Tutti Frutti, and honoring it by making it.
Tutti Frutti
It is essential to follow safe canning practices. For instructions on safe canning, click here: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html, or here http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started.aspx. This recipe should yield about 8 - 10 half-pints.
2 - 3 pounds mixed ripe stone fruit, such as nectarines, apricots, and plums (see note below)
1 - 2 pounds mixed berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries (see note below)
3/4 - 1 pound mixed apples and pears (see note below)
1/2 pound seedless black or red grapes (see note below)
1/2 pound cherries
White sugar
Lemon juice
Brandy
Ground cinnamon
Make the Tutti Frutti
- Place a large stock pot with a lid on the stovetop.
- Measure 1 teaspoon of vegetable cleaner into a large mixing bowl. Fill the bowl halfway with water.
- Place the stone fruit into the bowl.
- Place your hands into the bowl and rub each piece of fruit until it feels clean.
- Thoroughly rinse each piece of washed fruit under cool water and place in a colander to drain.
- Place the cherries and grapes in the cleaning water. Swirl the fruit until it is clean.
- Empty the cherries and grapes into the colander containing the stone fruit.
- Hull strawberries if using, and cut into quarters. Add all of the berries to the colander.
- Rinse the cherries, grapes and berries with cool water. Set the colander aside to drain.
- While the washed fruit is draining, peel and core each apple and each pear. Cut each apple and each pear into bite-sized chunks. As you work, place the chunked fruit into the stock pot.
- Remove and discard the stem and pit from each piece of stone fruit. Cut each piece of stone fruit into bite-sized chunks. As you work, place the chunks into the fruit mix in the stock pot.
- Cut the lemon in half and squeeze both halves through a sieve into the pot containing the fruit mix.
- Remove and discard the stem and pit from each cleaned and rinsed cherry and cut each cherry in half and add to the fruit mix in the stock pot.
- Cut each grape in half and add to the fruit mix in the stock pot.
- Add the hulled, rinsed and drained berries to the fruit mix in the stock pot.
- Refer to the total weight (see note below) of the fruit. Add 1 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon per pound of fruit as calculated from the total weight to the fruit mix in the stock pot.
- Use a heavy spoon to mix the fruit, sugar, and cinnamon together.
- Add 1/2 cup cold filtered water to the fruit mixture. Use the spoon to stir the mixture until it is thick and sugary.
- Add brandy to the stock pot to cover the fruit mixture by 1/2 inch.
- Gently shake the pot to make sure all of the fruit is coated with no air pockets, especially at the bottom of the pot.
- Place the lid on the pot and turn the burner to low.
- Simmer the mixture, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching, until little bubbles start to appear, typically 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Can the Tutti Frutti
- Prepare canner, jars and lids.
- Place a clean towel on a counter near the canner.
- Use canning tongs to remove hot jars from water bath. Do your best not to touch the hot jars; let the tongs do the work. Place hot jars mouth up on the clean towel.
- Use a jar lifter to transport a jar mouth-side up to the pot containing the hot mixture. Place a clean canning funnel into the mouth of the jar. Carefully fill the jar with fruit and syrup to the ½-inch mark. If necessary, top each jar with brandy in order to reach the 1/2-inch mark.
- Check for and remove air bubbles if any.
- Use a clean, damp sponge to wipe the rim of each jar. Center a clean, hot lid on each jar. Screw a band down on each jar until it meets resistance; increase just until tight.
- Use canning tongs to return the jars to the boiling water bath. Add more water if necessary to ensure that the jars are completely covered by boiling water by 1 inch. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
- After jars have processed for ten minutes in the boiling water bath, turn off the heat. Remove the canner lid and set aside. Let jars sit in hot water ten minutes.
- After ten minutes, use the canning tongs to remove the jars. Being very careful of the hot jars, lids and liquid, place jars upright on the towel. Allow to sit 24 hours.
- After 24 hours, check for a vacuum seal (see instructions).
- Label each jar with the contents and the date prepared.
- Safely prepared, stored and sealed, Tutti Frutti will keep for one year from date of preparation.
Note
Be sure to note the total weight of the fruit used for tutti frutti by adding the combined weight of all of the fruit obtained. It is okay that you are adding weight prior to peeling, pitting and coring. Example: 2-1/2 pounds stone fruit + 2 pounds apples and pears + 1-1/2 pounds cherries and grapes + 1 pound berries = 7 pounds fruit.
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