Artificial Food Coloring Free Apple-Ginger Fruit Salad Cups
Fruit salad sounds simple until you realize most store-bought versions and packaged dressings are loaded with artificial dyes and synthetic flavor enhancers that have no business being near fresh produce. This version keeps everything completely clean, relying on real ingredients — crisp apples, juicy pear, blueberries, and strawberries — to deliver color that's genuinely natural and stunning on a table. The dressing is a bright little mix of fresh lime juice, raw honey, grated ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, and lime zest, and it comes together in about thirty seconds of whisking. Hollowing out apple halves to use as edible serving cups is a clever move that makes this feel special without adding a single questionable ingredient. A short rest lets the dressing soak into the fruit so every bite is layered with warm spice and citrus tang. Finish with a scatter of fresh mint if you have it, and you've got something that looks like it came from a fancy brunch spread but took almost no effort at all.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the apple cups
- 4 medium apples (such as honeycrisp or fuji), for the cups
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice (from about 1 lime), for brushing cups
For the fruit salad
- 2 medium apples (such as granny smith or pink lady), diced into ½-inch pieces
- 1 medium ripe pear, diced into ½-inch pieces
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (from about 2 limes)
- 1 tbsp raw honey
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated
- ¼ tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
- 1 tsp lime zest
For serving
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Halve 4 apples crosswise (through the equator, not stem to base) to create 8 cup-shaped halves. Use a melon baller or small spoon to scoop out the core and enough flesh to form a shallow bowl, leaving a wall about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the cut surfaces and interior of each cup with 1 tbsp lime juice to prevent browning, then set aside on a serving platter.
- 2
In a small bowl, whisk together the 2 tbsp lime juice, honey, grated ginger, ground Ceylon cinnamon, and lime zest until the honey is fully dissolved and the dressing is smooth.
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