Blueberry Pineapple Dessert

Over 20 years ago, my husband and I were members of a wonderful round dance club in Cincinnati, the Bendoliers.  At Christmas time, the couple who served as President gave a brunch for the other officers in the club.  As Secretary, my husband I were invited and it was a beautiful meal.  I told the hostess that my favorite dish was what she called “Blueberry Salad” and asked for the recipe.  She was amazed that I didn’t know this old standby and as the years have passed, I’ve seen many versions of it in community cookbooks.  But at that time it was new to me and I loved it.

I adapted her recipe a little bit and I think of it as a dessert rather than a salad, but basically, it’s the same great dish we had that long-ago Christmas.

BLUEBERRY PINEAPPLE DESSERT

• Two 6 oz. packages of blackberry gelatin (I used four 3 oz. packages of Jell-O Blackberry Fusion)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup cold fruit juice*
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• One 8 oz. can crushed pineapple

*Whenever I drain a can of fruit, I put it into a pint jar that I keep in the freezer.  I keep adding the drained juice from whatever fruit I have until I have enough to replace the cold water in a gelatin recipe.  In this case, I used a mixture of several kinds of fruit.

Topping

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup dairy sour cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

In a 9×9 pan, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, stirring constantly for 2 minutes.  Add the cold fruit juice, stirring well.  Chill in the refrigerator for about 1-1/2 hours until the mixture cools and begins to thicken.  After the mixture has thickened, add the blueberries and pineapple.  (Pineapple should be drained through a sieve into a cup, lightly pressing with a spoon.   I add this juice to my jar of stashed juice in the freezer.)

Chill gelatin/fruit mixture until set.

After the gelatin/fruit mixture has set, make the topping:  Beat together the cream cheese, dairy sour cream, granulated sugar and vanilla.  Spread the topping over the gelatin/fruit mixture.  Sprinkle chopped pecans over the top.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield:  9 delicious servings.