Updated: November 27, 2022
The recipe was originally posted in 2013

chilled Fruit salad with Cool Whip

When you have had a blog as long as I have had now, it's fun to go back through your earlier work. This recipe is a modern twist on a similar recipe my Dad made during the holidays. There are many variations to this sweet salad. I always recommend using mandarin oranges. My dad always used fresh fruit. He passed away from a brain tumor in the spring of 2005. One of my last memories of him was the holiday of 2004 in my kitchen making this salad before we knew he had brain cancer. He would use apples, pecans, mandarin oranges, sweetened coconut, and crushed canned pineapple. He called it Ambrosia salad. Some recipes also call for sour cream; I do not know if he used this ingredient. The "Heavenly Hash" version I made did not use sour cream, which sometimes cuts the sweetness and gives it a tangy twist. 

I think for this holiday season, I will experiment and try to make it more like my Dad did and perhaps include a little bit of sour cream.  This salad can be served in many ways, but another twist is to layer fresh fruit on top for a decorated look. Have fun and experiment with it. I don't think you can go wrong, but you must use the brand Cool Whip.  No substitutions!!!

My grandmother certainly had a sweet tooth, and some of my fondest memories are of when I spent a week with her at her home in Durham, and we would whip up an easy dessert using COOL WHIP whipped topping. She had several in her recipe box, and the best part of cooking with her each summer is that I used to sneak a little finger-tasting of COOL WHIP before it was tossed in with the rest of the ingredients.

Cool Whip and Fruit Mixture

Fast forward thirty-five years, and I’m trying to make some of the same memories with my children that I made with my grandma. Unfortunately, my son never got to meet my dad or his great-grandmother, but he shares a quality they both had: He loves to cook (Or at least he did when he was younger, not necessarily true in 2022)




Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe my father or grandmother used, but one of my church cookbooks had something very similar to my family’s recipe. My dad used mandarin oranges, but this recipe version uses pineapple only. The taste is old-fashioned, but I’m serving it with a modern, cosmopolitan twist.

Modern Twist on Heavenly Hash, Served with Chess Cookie and in a Cosmopolitan glass.


Hines Heavenly Hash (Sometimes Called Ambrosia) 

 1 (8 oz) can pineapple tidbits, well-drained
2 cups COOL WHIP whipped cream, thawed
1 cup of sweetened coconut
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
3 tablespoons milk

 Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Garnish with a Chess cookie.

This dessert needs to chill an hour before serving, so we make it in the afternoon, and then it’s ready that evening for dessert, or it can even be done as an afternoon treat on a Sunday as soon as it is prepared. 

It’s simple. It’s delicious!




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