Our Cherry Tamarillo Salad is no ordinary fruit salad. The rich, deep colours intertwined with the equally rich, deep flavours, make for a sophisticated dinner party dessert fruit salad.
To remove the tamarillo skin, cut a cross at the bottom. Place the tamarillos into a medium sized mixing bowl and submerge them in boiling hot water for 3-4 minutes. Wash them under cool water. The skin at the bottom would have come away. Peel the tamarillo.Cut the peeled tamarillo into half, lengthwise. Then slice each half into 3 wedges. Place the wedges back into a medium sized mixing bowl.
Remove the stems off the cherries. Pit the cherries with a cherry pitter and them cut them in half. Place them in the bowl of tamarillos.If you do not have a cherry pitter, use a small knife to cut the cherry around the pit, much like you would with any stone fruit or avocado. With a little twist, pop it open in half and with the tip of my knife, nick the seed out of the cherry. Place them in the bowl of tamarillos.
Add 1 tsp of fresh lemon thyme into the bowl. Mix thoroughly.
Salad Dressing
In a small saucepan, add ½ cup of water and bring to the boil.
Add ½ cup of caster sugar and stir until fully dissolved.
Remove from the stove and allow it to cool.
Then add 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and mix well.
Assembly
Add 2 tbsp of balsamic sugar syrup into the bowl of fruit. Mix well. Add more if you would like the cherry salad to be sweeter.
In a shallow bowl, place the dressed fruits in a nice heap.
In a small bowl, scoop out 1 cup of crème fraîche. Garnish with lemon thyme. Serve the fruit salad with the crème fraîche on the side.
Notes
If you can’t find crème fraîche or prefer not to use crème fraîche, you can substitute it with cream or double cream. Don’t use sour cream as the fruit salad is already very tangy.
If you’re a real sweet tooth, you can make the sugar syrup sweeter by adding more caster sugar. Just add the caster sugar slowly until you get the sweetness you prefer.
If 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar syrup is not sweet enough, add another tbsp one at a time until you get the flavour you’re after.
For a vegan option, omit the crème fraîche.
This fruit salad can be made ahead of time so you can leave it in the fridge for a few hours and bring it out when you’re ready to serve.