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December 7, 2021

Remember the Candle Salad, a Vintage Holiday Recipe That Make You Blush!

Your eyes do not deceive you. This is not some naughty bachelorette party dessert; it is a vintage fruit salad that was popular in America from the 1920s through to the 1960s. A holiday recipe. Later printed in children’s cookbooks.


The candle salad is typically composed of lettuce, pineapple, banana, cherry, and either mayonnaise or, according to some recipes, cottage cheese. Whipped cream may also be used.

Its preparation is: first arrange a few leaves of lettuce on a plate or decorative napkin, this forms the salad’s base. Then stack pineapple rings on top of the lettuce, providing a niche for inserting one whole (or more often half) peeled banana. For garnish, the banana can be topped with choice of cream and a cherry.


Candle salad was known as an easy way to get kids to eat fruit because of its unusual appearance. It was also considered a child-friendly introduction to cooking because of its simple construction. The recipe for candle salad was published in the 1950 edition of A Child’s First Cook Book by Alma S. Lach, one of the first cookbooks written for children. It is also in the 1957 edition of the Betty Crocker’s Cook Book for Boys and Girls with the description, “It’s better than a real candle because you can eat it.”










2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Traditionally, this is a dessert for the kiddos. and, traditionally utensils aren't used for this dessert; you use your hands---BOTH hands.

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