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Summer Fruit Cocktails

These refreshing recipes include star chef Bobby Flay's watermelon-tequila cocktails and strawberry-lemon mojitos.

Blackberry-Mint Julep

Adding blackberries to a mint julep adds fruity flavor to the classic warm-weather cocktail.

Watermelon-Tequila Cocktails

When watermelon is in abundance, this is a great way to use it. Bobby Flay purees seedless watermelon chunks, then strains the juice through a sieve and mixes it with silver tequila, sugar syrup, blueberries, mint and fresh lime juice.

Sour-Cherry Gin Slings

This sweet-tart concoction is based on the classic Singapore sling, replacing the traditional cherry brandy with an intensely vibrant homemade sour-cherry syrup. With a squirt of sparkling water, the syrup also makes a great base for kid-friendly cherry soda.

Tabernacle Crush

This light and refreshing cocktail is as reminiscent of the American South as it is of the South of France.

Watermelon Sangria

Sangria, a Spanish variation on traditional punch composed of wine, fruit and brandy, was formally introduced to America at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City. This seasonal version uses vodka instead of brandy.

Blueberry Cosmopolitan

For anyone who wants to flaunt a love of Cosmos, muddled blueberries tint this version a gorgeous hot pink.

Strawberry-Lemon Mojitos

Strawberries sweeten these mojitos from Joaquin Simo. “This is a great drink when you’re in the mood for something fruity,” says Simo. Use a molasses-based rum (like white Brugal) for a smoother drink, or a sugarcane-based rum (such as white Barbancourt) for a drier cocktail.

This drink pays homage to the orchards and vineyards of British Columbia’s fertile Okanagan Valley.

Melon Sparkler with Tapioca Pearls

Mixing honeydew juice with the fizzy Italian wine Moscato makes a super-refreshing cocktail. Melon balls and chewy tapioca pearls are fun to eat and cute to look at.

Watermelon-Honey-Citrus Refresher

One great thing about blender drinks: The machine does all the work. Adam Seger prefers Vita-Mix blenders, which create especially smooth purees.

Indian Summer Cup

Master bartender Wayne Collins prefers using premium, naturally sweetened tonic water (sometimes called Indian tonic water) in this punch. Q Tonic, made with agave nectar, and Fever-Tree, sweetened with cane sugar, are both excellent brands.

Peach Donkey

Blueberries Gone Wild

Health-conscious bar chef Debbi Peek created this gin drink to showcase antioxidant-dense ingredients, including blueberries and pomegranate.

Bourbon Blackberry Collins

Many spirits and fruits and herbs can work in a Tom Collins riff. In place of blackberries and bourbon, try raspberries and vodka or cherries and rum.

Black Pepper-Raspberry Sorbet with Prosecco

Chef James Holmes topped raw oysters with this sweet-savory sorbet before deciding it would make an excellent cocktail with Prosecco. A good-quality, store-bought raspberry sorbet is a fine shortcut.

The Don's Bramble

Mixologist Jackson Cannon calls this drink a celebration of late summer.

Porch Crawler

New York chef-partners Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo and their friend Travis Kauffman concocted this terrifically refreshing cooler one hot summer night with ingredients from Falcinelli’s rooftop garden.

Bitter Peach

While playing with leftover ingredients one night, Jamie Boudreau combined grappa and peach puree. The mixture was sweet, so he added Aperol, a bitter orange liqueur, then Champagne, resulting in this well-balanced cocktail.

Cholo Fresco

Cholo fresco means “somebody who is fresh in every sense,” Hans Hilburg says. “Light, saucy, naughty, audacious . . . And what’s fresher than cucumber, melon, mint and lime?”

In-Sandíary

This cocktail’s name is a play on both the Spanish word for watermelon, sandía, and “incendiary,” referring to the peppery tequila and the spicy ancho chile rim.

Cucumber-Honeydew Freeze

Fruit flavors generally mix well if they’re from the same botanical family. This cool and light summer cocktail works because cucumber and melon both belong to the Cucurbitaceae family.

Fresh Fruit Cocktail

Recipe by Annacia

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Fresh Fruit Cocktail

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

• 2 cups apple juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 ⁄₂ teaspoon grated orange zest or 1 ⁄₂ teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 (3 inch) cinnamon sticks
• 2 Red Delicious apples, cored and chopped
• 1 1 ⁄₂ cups chopped fresh pineapple
• 1 orange, peeled and sectioned
• 1 ⁄₂ cup seedless grapes

Directions

1. In medium saucepan, combine apple juice, lemon juice, orange or lemon zest, and cinnamon sticks. Heat to boil and simmer, uncovered 10 minutes.
2. Cool to room temperature.
3. In large serving bowl, combine apples, pineapple, orange, and grapes.
4. Remove cinnamon sticks from apple juice mixture and pour mixture over fruit.
5. Chill before serving.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (222 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 109.9 Calories from Fat 2 3% Total Fat 0.3 g 0% Saturated Fat 0.1 g 0% Cholesterol 0 mg 0% Sodium 4.6 mg 0% Total Carbohydrate 28.2 g 9% Dietary Fiber 2.9 g 11% Sugars 22.4 g 89% Protein 0.8 g 1%

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How to Make Mixed Fruit Cocktail - Easily! With Step-by-step Directions, Photos, Ingredients, Recipe and Costs

Related topics

This month's notes: November 2017: Stored US apples are still available. See your state's crop availability calendar for more specific dates of upcoming crops.

And we have home canning, preserving, drying and freezing directions. You can access recipes and other resources from the drop down menus at the top of the page or the site search. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to write me! Also make your own ice cream; see How to make ice cream and i ce cream making equipment and manuals. Have fun, eat healthier and better tasting, and save money by picking your own locally grown fruit and vegetables, and then using our easy directions

Making and canning your own delicious mixed Fruit Cocktail is easy and safe with this USDA-tested recipe! This recipe uses peaches, pears, green grapes, cherries, but the Ball Blue Book points out that you could also freely substitute nectarines, pineapple, apricots, grapefruit, plums, etc.

Some of the photos are just of peaches, but that's just because my camera malfunctioned when I made this recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs peaches or nectarines (yes, you can use pineapple, apricots, grapefruit, plums instead)
• 3 lbs pears
• 1-1/2 lbs seedless green grapes (preferably slightly under-ripe)
• 10-oz jar of maraschino cherries
• 3 cups sugar (or 3 cups honey - but sugar is easier to use) See step 2 for other options.
• 4 cups water

• large pot of boiling water
• large bowl of ice water
• a sharp knife
• saucepan
• Spoons, ladles
• Water bath canner
• Jar tongs

Directions - Step by Step

Step 1 - Selecting the peaches, pears, cherries and grapes

The most important step! You need fruit that is sweet, but still firm, not overripe or even dead ripe - and to make the work easier, cling-free (also called freestone). This means that the peach separates easily from the pit! Same with nectarines, and this doesn't apply to cherries or plums. Don't miss the peach picking tips page!

Choose ripe, mature fruit of ideal quality for eating fresh or cooking. They should not be mushy, but they also should not be rock hard: just as ripe as you would eat them fresh.

Step 2 - Prepare the sugar (or other sweetener) solution

Fruit must be packed in a solution of water and sugar or fruit juice. It's up to you which to use. Sugar is added to improve flavor, help stabilize color, and retain the shape of the fruit. It is not added as a preservative. Sugar solution is much less expensive (unless you have a supply of cheap grape juice), so I usually use a light solution to keep sugar (and the added calories) to a minimum.

Yes, honey could be used in place of sugar, but I will warn that it is very sticky and can be messy to work with.

To prepare syrup, while heating water, add sugar slowly, stirring constantly to dissolve. Bring to a gentle boil and keep it simmering. After preparing the liquid syrup, keep it hot (but not boiling).

Step 3 - Wash the jars and lids

This is a good time to get the jars ready! The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. Otherwise put the jars in boiling water for 10 minutes. I just put the lids in a small pot of almost boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" (available from target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) to pull them out.

Step 4 -Wash the fruit!

I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the fruit in plain cold or lukewarm water

Step 5 - Peeling the Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Apricots

Nope, we're not going to peel them by hand; that's way too much work. Instead, here's a great trick that works with many fruits and vegetables with skins (like tomatoes): just dip the fruit in boiling water for 20 to 45 seconds.

Remove from the boiling water using a slotted spoon and put into a large bowl or pot of cold water and ice for several minutes

The skins will easily slide off now!

Nectarines do not need to be peeled, if you don't mind the skins. Neither do peaches, but most people prefer them with skins off - they tend to be slimy after all this.

SAVE THE PEELINGS in the fridge - to make peach honey!

And yes, you could leave the skins on, but they fall off in the jars anyway and look rather unpleasant.

Step 6 - Cut up the fruit

Cut out any brown spots and mushy areas. Cut the peaches, pears, plums, apricots, etc. in half, or quarters or slices, as you prefer! Remove pits, stems and any other inedible bits.

Step 7 - Prevent the fruit from darkening!

Peaches, nectarines, plums, grapes and many other fruit will turn brown when exposed to air, even air in a sealed, sterile jar. To keep the fruit from turning brown, when you get a bowlful, sprinkle 1/4 cup lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh (which is just a mix of citric acid and vitamin C, perfectly natural). Then stir the peaches to make sure all the surfaces have been coated.

Drain the mixed fruit (I just put it in a colander). Next add 1/2 cup of the hot syrup from step 2 to each jar Then gently fill the jar with mixed fruit and more hot syrup, until you reach 1/2-inch from the rim (which is called leaving 1/2 inch of headspace)

Step 9 - Process the jars in the water bath

Put the sealed jars in the canner and keep them cover with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. In general, if you are at sea level, boil them for at least 20 minutes (and no more than 30 min).

Here are more specific guidelines from the USDA for canning peaches in a boiling-water canner (neither the USDA nor Ball have times for a pressure canner, meaning they feel a water bath canner yields the best results)

Step 10 - Remove and cool

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight), here they won't be bumped. You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture.

Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger.

If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid (with a new lid) and reprocess the jar, while it's still hot for the full time in the canner - that's acceptable!

How long will the jars be good? The USDA usually recommends eating them within 1 year, but as long as you follow the recipe, the jars stay sealed, and you store them in a cool, dark place (like a basement), the keep indefinitely, although there is a slow loss of quality over time.

Other Equipment:

From left to right:

helpful to pick up hot jars

Lid lifter

- to remove lids from the pot

- disposable - you may only

use them once

Ring

- holds the lids on the jar until after

the jars cool - then you don't need them

Canning jar funnel

Frequently asked questions!

1. Is it safe to can unpeeled peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, etc? I've spent hours on websites and read several books on canning - to no avail. This is the second year I've canned unpeeled peaches and other stone fruit in a 5 to 1 water to sugar syrup (we're still alive). All my friends, their mothers and everything I've read says to peel and I'm beginning to buckle under all the finger wagging.

Answer: Ah, that usually means they weren't ripe. I'll bet they were rock hard, or close to it. Not much to do about that other than let the ripen (soften) first OR peel them hard with a vegetable peeler. If you let the remaining peaches sit at room temperature for 2 or 3 days, they'll soften and it will work!

This document was adapted from the "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA, revised 2006.

Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

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15 Gorgeous & Delicious Fruity Cocktails

Get ready to be the best bartender in town.

Next time someone gives your fruity cocktail the side eye, stand proud. Embrace the fruity cocktail! There's nothing wrong with pink drinks decorated with pineapple wedges and umbrellas! No matter what someone may tell you, everybody loves a good fruity drink. Sometimes you just need a little something sweet!

These 15 fruity cocktails and drinks are seriously irresistible. Pace yourself.

A fruity cocktail list on Cosmo has to start with a pink raspberry cosmopolitan, obviously.

Get your highball on blackberry style.

Even Don Draper would drink this fruity cocktail.

What? Kiwi and mint in your Tom Collins? But of course.

Not only do these look downright delicious, they are stunning.

Again with the gorgeous drinks. (I need to have a party pronto.) Also, strawberries and pomegranate in a mojito? Done and done.

Piña coladas are like the original fruity drink, right? Okay, that might not be history, but who cares, they should be if they're not. Also, light version. You're welcome.

Sorbet + strawberry + basil + bellini = fruity drink heaven

Lemonade wants to be a cocktail. Just go with it.

For when your margarita needs even more of a kick!

Ah, sangria. You delicious pitcher of fun.

Lemon is always a good choice for a fizz. Rosemary makes it extra special.

Skip the winter weather, stay inside, and enjoy your frost bite poured from a shaker.

It may look like a serious cocktail, but it's got some fruity fun.

If you like a just hint of fruit in your fruity cocktail, this one's for you.

Jane Maynard is a food blogger at This Week for Dinner and Babble, a writer and designer, and a lover of all things chocolate.

Fruit "Cocktail"

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can fruit cocktail in light syrup
• 1/2 cup whiskey
• 1 (12-ounce) can pear nectar
• 1 (12-ounce) can peach nectar

Directions

Drain the fruit cocktail and reserve the syrup. Put the fruit into a bowl, pour the whiskey over and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight. In a pitcher, combine the reserved syrup with the nectars and refrigerate.

Combine the fruit and whiskey mixture with the nectars mixture. Pour into glasses filled with ice and serve.

Recipe copyright Sandra Lee, 2011

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Fruit Cocktail Pudding

Recipe by Bokenpop aka Madele

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Fruit Cocktail Pudding

SERVES:

Ingredients Nutrition

Topping

Directions

1. Mix all batter ingredients well with wooden spoon.
2. Pour into large greased pie dish.
3. Bake at 350F for 40 – 50 minutes.
4. Boil together topping ingredients for 5 minutes.
5. As pudding comes out of oven stab it all over with a knife and pour topping over.

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Nutrition Info

Serving Size: 1 (232 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value Calories 646.5 Calories from Fat 136 21% Total Fat 15.2 g 23% Saturated Fat 10 g 49% Cholesterol 93.7 mg 31% Sodium 701 mg 29% Total Carbohydrate 123.2 g 41% Dietary Fiber 3.7 g 14% Sugars 87.4 g 349% Protein 8.2 g 16%

Fruit Cocktail Salad

Recipe: Fruit Cocktail Salad

• 2 cored and chopped apples (about 3 cups)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of lite fruit cocktail
• 1 (20 ounce) can of pineapple tidbits
• 1 (11 ounce) can of mandarin oranges
• 1 (10 ounce) jar of maraschino cherries , well drained, optional
• 1 pound of seedless, red grapes , halved
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package of instant vanilla or lemon pudding , regular or sugar free
• 2 medium sized, firm bananas , optional

Instructions

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10 HUNGRY PEOPLE COMMENTED. ADD YOURS!

10 comments:

I'm so glad you made it through Isaac!

Thanks Pam! I'm just glad it wasn't a stronger hurricane. As it was it sure left behind a mess - nothing like the destruction of Katrina, but still a mess.

First off, glad you are ok and made it through safely. We've had a couple pretty bad hurricane's up here in Virginia the past few years, so I understand. Great recipe post, too. My grandma in WV used to make a similar dish, but she called it a "grease cutter" since it was often the only item on the dinner table that wasn't fried :)

Oh how funny! That's a new one on me!!

I grew up with Fruit cocktail salad but mostly for the holidays. My mother always layered Nilla wafers, fruit then the vanilla pudding. Delish!!

I've never heard of that one either!

I'm glad you guys did okay. Even for a Cat 1, he sure caused a lot of problems since he was slow and full of water.

Thanks Chris. Yeah, Isaac just refused to leave! Even made a round trip back to visit us, can you believe it?!

You mentioned the original version with four ingredients in your post and I'll end up trying both, but I wanted to start with the original version. Just to confirm, can I use the amounts for the fruit cocktail, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, and vanilla pudding that you have listed in your recipe and this would constitute the original version?

Yes, except I didn't mention the grapes up there! I like to add apples for the crunch, the cherries are also an add-in I use occasionally, bananas not so much because they don't hold up for storing & I usually have leftovers since it's just the two of us. Hope you enjoy it Eugene!

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

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Recipes by Category

Cooking has always brought me a happiness that I didn`t think was available. I just fire up the stove, and things start to fade away.

Fruit Cocktail Cake

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Fruit Cocktail Cake – this easy cake recipe is the perfect coffee cake for breakfast! It’s full of coconut and fruit, with no oil! This old fashioned recipe is the perfect way to use up canned fruit cocktail.

Wait, I know. I’d never heard of Fruit Cocktail Cake either! But it’s actually fantastic, so you’re gonna want this recipe.

Jordan loves Fruit Cocktail. She loves all sorts of those little fruit cups, canned pineapple and peaches. I feel good when she eats it for breakfast because that way she starts off her day getting the nutrition she needs. I often buy cans of Fruit Cocktail when they’re on sale but, as happens with all of my canned goods, I often forget I’ve bought them. I don’t know why that is; when I was growing up we lived on canned food but now I buy fruit and beans and corn and they sit on the shelf until I realize they’re almost expired. Hence, me looking for fruit cocktail recipes.

I’d been planning to make a cocktail, but when I started searching for recipes for Fruit Cocktail one kept coming up that intrigued me: Fruit Cocktail Cake. It’s an old recipe that has traditional cake ingredients like flour and sugar, but there is no butter or oil because you use a can of Fruit Cocktail instead. Then you top it with brown sugar and coconut, like a crumble on top. To me, that meant that this is like a coffee cake and coffee cake is for breakfast.

So basically, Fruit Cocktail cake can be eaten any time of day or night: breakfast, snack, dessert…you name it!

We served this as a coffee cake at brunch and everyone gobbled it up.

I used Libby’s Fruit Cocktail in this recipe. I’m sure you’ve heard of Libby’s before, but you might not be aware of all of their offerings. Libby’s makes all kind of canned fruit, from peaches to apricots to pears to fruit cocktail. You should add a little newness to your breakfast routine and add some fruit cocktail…especially if it’s in the form of CAKE!

My favorite part of this fruit cocktail cake recipe is that there is no oil. The liquid from the fruit cocktail keeps it moist like a cake should be. I also love the brown sugar and coconut topping. It adds a little spring flair to the cake, along with a simple glaze. The glaze is optional, but it makes it look a lot prettier. Because of the fruit in the cake, it doesn’t need any frosting, making it perfect for brunch.

I love bringing old recipes to life and this fruit cocktail cake is definitely one that your family needs!

Fruit Cocktail Cake

Fruit Cocktail Cake – this easy cake recipe is the perfect coffee cake for breakfast! It’s full of coconut and fruit with no oil! This old fashioned recipe is the perfect way to use up canned fruit cocktail.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 can (15 ounces) Libby’s Fruit Cocktail with juice
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 teaspoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Stir together eggs, sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl using a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir in fruit cocktail with the juice, then stir in flour. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Stir coconut and brown sugar together and sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
4. Make the glaze (optional) by whisking powdered sugar and enough milk for a pourable consistency. Drizzle over cake. Serve warm or room temperature. Store loosely covered for up to 2 days.

Adapted from several sources, including All Recipes and Taste of Home.

All images and text © Dorothy Kern for © Crazy for Crust . Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Libby’s Fruits & Vegetables. The opinions and text are all mine.

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10 comments

I have never heard of this cake! And my mother/grandma are/were the queens of coming up with random old-fashioned type cakes! Very intrigued with this cake! As a kid, I was like Jordan, and absolutely loved fruit cocktail!

My mother made a fruit cocktail cake but she added nuts and mini chocolate chips.

Sounds interesting. I agree that it’s like a coffee cake and therefore it’s breakfast! 🙂

I, too, would forget all the cans I had bought, and then would end up trading them to the library for forgiveness of overdue fines, during one of their food drives. Now I have a good coffee cake to make with one of those cans!

I had never heard of this cake, until my sister baked one. Very good! I like that you added coconut to your cake.

My mother made fruit cocktail cake for us in the sixties-I have her recipe and still make it on occasion. No coconut or glaze in her version, but take a look around the internet-lots of variations. I do remember we all wanted to get the piece of cake with the cherry in it, there was only one per can of fruit.

Ohmygoodness, you just brought back a flood of memories. I can’t wait to make this!!

This is SUCH a fun idea! Perfect for summer too!

I wish I had a slice of this to go with my coffee right now. This is an acceptable breakfast, right.

What a fun idea!

Hi, I’m Dorothy!

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Who Invented Canned Fruit Cocktail?

Canned fruit cocktail — it's just a bunch of mushy, syrupy fruit with a few kid-friendly cherries thrown in, right? Not so fast. Fruit cocktail is actually a triumph of turn-of-the-century marketing and food technology — a perfectly packaged paean to the industrialization of our country's food system. Here's how it went from cookbook to can.

First There Was Fruit Salad

Fruit salad as we know it didn't hit American tables until the mid-19th century; ambrosia, that fluffy Southern confection, dates to the mid-1800s, and Waldorf salad, which famously enrobes apples and celery in mayonnaise, was invented in 1893. If creamy ingredients weren't involved, booze often found its way into the recipe, usually sweet wine or liqueur. (Paging Anne Shirley's forbidden currant wine!). Thus we get the term "fruit cocktail" instead of the more generic "fruit salad" — because it really was a little bit of an aperitif or digestif. Sarah Tyson Rorer, the Martha Stewart of her day, breaks it down in her 1902 book, "Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book."

"In these latter days many American cooks make a mixture of fruit, sugar, and alcohol, and serve them as 'salad.' These are not salads; are heavy, rather unwholesome, and will never take the place of a salad. I much prefer to call them fruit cocktails, and serve them as first course at a luncheon or a twelve o'clock breakfast; or a dessert, and serve them with the ices at the close of the meal."

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was up to the home cook to prepare these recipes, but there was already something in the works that would revolutionize the market for fruit cocktail: the commercial canning process. Although the French had been canning food even before Louis Pasteur was able to explain why the stuff wasn't spoiling, and companies like Heinz and Campbell's were founded in the late 1800s, it was canny marketing tactics that brought us the brightly packaged fruit cans that still grace our supermarket aisles.

A Canny Invention

A consortium of California canning companies, whose premium brand was Del Monte, developed the canned fruit cocktail as a way to use the odds and ends of otherwise damaged fruit. (That peach with an unsightly bruise? Let's cut around the gross part and we'll have a few good diced bits left.) Various men lay claim to credit for the nomenclature, but the upshot is that the fruit cocktail was standardized by the almighty dollar … or, if we're being generous, as a savvy solution to reduce food waste.

Prohibition made it, shall we say, difficult to include the cocktail portion of fruit cocktail in the recipe, but no matter — the recipe soldiered on, morphing into today's modern form of cut fruit suspended in sugar syrup. Del Monte became the standard-bearer for the name and still holds a near-monopoly on the product.

Setting the Standard

At first, the canners used the overarching term "fruit cocktail" as any home cook would, incorporating any leftover fruit bits they could. But after the USDA's Bureau of Chemistry became the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration in 1927, a standard recipe for fruit cocktail was established. As Harvard Magazine explained, "To be considered a true fruit cocktail, pears, grapes, cherries, and peaches must be included in the mix.”

Today's USDA guidelines for fruit cocktail, developed to maintain quality benchmarks for consumers, are even more rigorous — and also include pineapple as a necessary fruit. Not only do you need to have a specific mix of fruits, but the percentage of each fruit in the cocktail mix must fall within a certain percentage by weight! Check out the full range of proportional percentages on the USDA's site, in case you need to know how many maraschino cherries to include in your DIY version. (Similar standards exist for everything from canned cranberry sauce to fruit jellies and preserves, all in the name of consumer quality and ingredient transparency.)

And that's why, when you look at the shelf of Del Monte's yellow-and-green cans in the store, you'll see there are only a few truly named "fruit cocktail." The rest get descriptive — but not legally binding! — terms like "mixed fruit." Don't worry — everything's still on the up and up with these blends. This is simply the savvy marketing way to include more cherries or maybe some papaya into the mix.

What's the difference between all the names? Here's a basic breakdown:

• Mixed Fruit is usually the same fruit blend as fruit cocktail, give or take a pineapple or a grape, but the size of the pieces are larger — sometimes bite-sized chunks, sometimes whole slices — than the small dice required for fruit cocktail.
• Cherry Mixed Fruit has a double whammy of extra maraschino cherries and cherry syrup instead of the usual fruit juice or neutral sugar syrup.
• Tropical Fruit Salad is a mix of papaya and pineapple, and floats the fruit in passion fruit juice.
• Citrus Salad is just that — orange and grapefruit chunks, with no pears, peaches, grapes, cherries, or pineapples to be found.

And of course, if none of these appeal to you, there's still an orchard's worth of canned fruit out there; Del Monte, Dole, and other fruit companies preserve and package single-fruit cans of pineapple, peaches, pears, and mandarin oranges.

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