Ask DJ Lyons: How to make Fruit Cocktail Surprise

Fruit Cocktail Surprise is surprisingly delicious!

The other day, my husband came home from visiting his mother in the nursing home raving about a dessert he had just tried. Not only that, he was holding a grocery bag filled with the following three ingredients: Food City's version of Cool Whip, one can of fruit cocktail, and a small bag of chopped walnuts.

I was skeptical of it being any good as I have never liked fruit cocktail. It always seemed kind of dried out and lacking in flavor. My husband agreed that he had never liked fruit cocktail either.

He mixed the ingredients together and allowed it to sit in the refrigerator for about an hour. We both tried it and were happily suprised. It was really good; however, I felt like it needed another can of fruit. The next day he came home with a second can and mixed it in. It was now really good.

The only other modification I suggested is that it needed more nuts. So, this pictorial recipe you will see below is the final results of our modifications. We love it so much that we will probably keep making this every single week.

FYI - His mother is in the nursing home due to the fact that she has Parkinson's, frequent UTI's, other complications, plus she cannot take care of even the most basic of her personal needs. She is very sweet and loving. Additionally, she LOVES to eat. When she likes a food, her eyes will roll back in her head, she will moan in ecstacy, and she will state, "This is the best thing I have ever eaten!" This, for me, is one of her most charming qualities.

 You can use any kind or brand of fruit cocktail. Since we are going to drain off the juice anyway, I prefer to use a can that has light syrup as opposed to heavy. That way, it has less calories. Better yet, use a can like this one that contains 100% juice. That way, it not only has less calories, it has more nutrients.

Since my husband and I are into saving money, we generally get the generic version of a product rather than the brand name. Sometimes, the generic version tastes even better than the brand name product.

 Here are the ingredients in the fruit cocktail. It contains diced peaches, diced pears, water, grapes, pineapple sectors, pear juice concentrate, halved cherries artificially colored red.

 Here is the nutrition label on this particular can of fruit cocktail.

Calories = 60
Total Fat = 0 grams
Cholesterol = 0 grams
Sodium = 10 mg
Potassium = 120 mg
Total Carbohydrates = 14 grams
Dietary Fiber = 1 gram
Sugars = 11 grams
Proteins = 0 grams
Vitamin A at 4%
Vitamin C at 2%

 Here is the bag of walnuts we used. You can add as much or as little of the walnuts as you desire. You could also use pecans instead. It boils down to a matter of your personal taste and preference.

I love crunchy foods; therefore, I like to have lots of walnuts in the recipe.

 You need 8 ounces of whipped topping or Cool Whip. I buy whichever one is cheaper.

To experiment, I decided to make a double recipe in two different containers. As a bit of a joke, my husband and I said, "We should have his and her Fruit Cocktail Surprise desserts."

In his recipe, I will use the regular brand of Whipped Topping and only 2 cans of the fruit cocktail. In my recipe, I will use the Light Whipped Topping and 3 cans of fruit cocktail. After recovering from breast cancer, I am all about nutrition.  

When both containers were finished, I had my husband taste both. He could not taste any difference between the regular and light mixtures. So he stated, "He will probably go light from now on." Smile!

 In my container of Fruit Cocktail Surprise, this is the third can that I added.

 Drain off the juice in a collander. Of course, you could drink the juice rather than let it go down the sink drain.

Pour the drained fruit into a fairly large storage container. It needs to be big enough to allow for 2 cans of fruit, 8 ounces of whipped topping, plus the nuts as well.

Add at least 1/2 cup of Walnuts. I probably added 1 1/2 cups of Walnuts to each container. It's all a matter of taste and your personal preference.

 Stir well.

You will now add the entire 8 ounces of the whipped topping. Make certain you have allowed it to set out on the counter to thaw for a while. That will make for much easier stirring.

 Stir all three ingredients together until they are totally mixed.

 If desired, top with more walnuts. I did so on my container but did not do that on the one my husband will use. He is not quite the nut lover that I am.

 One last suggestion for any coconut lovers out there. A nurse at the nursing home where my mother-in-law lives states that she sometimes adds coconut sprinkles and mini marshmellows to the batter. She loves it that way. My husband probably would like the addition of coconut as he really enjoys coconut cakes and pies. As for me, I plan to stick to the recipe as shown above.