Frosted Fruit Salad

Note: Pineapple isn't a fruit I eat very often; I don't really like the taste. Keep this in mind while reading the post because I'm pretty sure that skewed my opinion on this recipe.

I remember my grandma making something similar to this, but I can't remember her ever making this exact recipe. The reason I'm making it is that in the mess of recipes I have, there are about 6 copies of this exact recipe. If she bothered to write it down so many times, she probably made it quite often at one point. It is very understandable (IMO, at least) if she stopped making this recipe. To me, it is just very sweet pineapple goo covered by a pineapple flavored whipped topping. Oh, and there is some fruit mixed into the goo.

I find the name of this recipe to be deceiving. It isn't exactly a fruit salad; there is hardly any fruit in it! It is more like a pineapple jello with a whipped topping. If you like pineapple and sugary sweet desserts, give this recipe a try. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend it. This is definitely one recipe that I will never make again!

Frosted Fruit Salad (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
2 packages lemon jello (3 oz each)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups ginger ale
1 large can crushed pineapple (drained)
2 large sliced bananas

Topping
1/2 C sugar
2 T flour
1 C pineapple juice (add water to drained juice to make it a cup)
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter
Small tub of cool whip (thawed)

First, boil the water and add it to the jello powder in a mixing bowl. Mix until completely dissolved. Add the ginger ale and mix. Place in the refrigerator until need later.

Drain the pineapple (save the juice!) and slice the bananas. Set aside.

Place the sugar, flour, pineapple juice, egg, and butter in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. The mixture, when cooked, reminded me of a pineapple flavored custard. Chill the mixture completely.

After making the custard-ish mixture, remove the jello from the refrigerator. Pour the slightly cooled (and maybe thickened) jello into a 13 x 9 pan. Mix in the pineapple and bananas. Place the pan in the refrigerator to cool.

Once the custard-ish mixture is completely chilled, fold the Cool Whip into it.

 If the jello is gelled at this point, frost the top of the jello with the topping. If not, return the topping to the refrigerator until the jello is set.

Note: When heating the custard mixture, the egg didn't blend in nicely. I was left with a nice creamy mixture that had random chunks of cooked egg white in it. To fix this problem, I pressed the custard-ish stuff through a wire mesh strainer.