How much fruit salad for 26 people?

kiwibubbles, Feb 10, 7:59pm
I got one of those huge 2point something kg tins of fruit salad... would that be enough for 26 people if i add a couple of bananas, some nectarines and apricots? I'm also having pavlova and cream too. Do you think I need another tin?
lilyfield, Feb 10, 8:35pm
i would say another tin, or bulk it up with a watermelon
kiwibubbles, Feb 10, 8:57pm
hmmwill buy another tin then. I'm already making a watermelon and cucumber salad so not much point repeating the watermelon for dessert lol
245sam, Feb 10, 9:24pm
kiwibubbles, does the label on the can, not indicate the number of servings?Rather than buying another large can I suggest that you consider buying a variety of smaller (approximately 400g) cans - I recall from cooking for school camps that it often was cheaper to use the smaller cans than to use the one big one, although the big cans make great Hobo stoves while the smaller cans make a good collection for your recycling bin/cart PLUS IMO the canned fruit salad can be rather ?? (uninteresting - lots of peach, pear and pineapple with a few insipid cherries and a few grapes added) so I suggest that you make your own 'brew' and add, as you've suggested some apricots and nectarines, plus e.g. some guava, mandarin, fresh grapes, etc. and if you're adding bananas don't forget to give them a quick coating of lemon juice to prevent them from browning and IMO spoiling the appearance of the fruit salad.
Hope that helps.:-))
kiwibubbles, Feb 10, 9:29pm
it says 12 servings....yeah i may just buy another couple small tins and add some fresh apricots, nectarines, apples and bananas.Do you think the apricots should be peeled, or will their fuzzy coat be ok? I will add the bananas at the last minute so they don't go brown
245sam, Feb 10, 9:45pm
kiwibubbles, I am probably not the best person to advise you re the fresh fruit that you are thinking of adding to the fruit salad - I DO think they would be great additions to the fruit salad but if I was making it I would cook them first because I can't eat most fruits raw but I LOVE them cooked.
Another thought tho' - if you're buying the smaller cans, how about some tropical fruit salad?It is a while since I read the can labels but I think you'd find that the tropical fruit salad has some items (e.g. passionfruit, papaya) that would add extra interest to your fruit salad and you may not need to make the "last minute" addition of the bananas i.e. unless you really want to add them but some tropical fruit salads do already have banana in them.:-))
kiwibubbles, Feb 10, 10:05pm
i'll have a look at the supermarket and see what other varieties of fruit salad they have :)
duckmoon, Feb 11, 1:04am
if you are adding extra smaller tins, then choose which which are different to the basic peach and pear which are the base of the fruit salad tins.
hilt_dwane, Feb 11, 1:42am
My mother used to dice oranges and add them - a really nice addition
juliewn, Feb 11, 1:56am
I agree Hilt.. a lovely flavour..and tangelo's are great too..

To keep fresh fruit from browning, cut as you want and place them in the bottom of the serving bowl, and place/pour one smaller tin of fruit over them. Stir though, to coat the fresh fruit in the juice of the canned fruit.

Add the other tinned fruits, with their juice, over them. Don't stir after this - the canned fruit will keep the air off the fresh fruit - and stir just before serving..
pickles7, Feb 11, 3:45am
Put the spare cans in the fridge unopened, it doesn't take long to rustle up a bowl of fruit salad. Fresh fruit will be cheaper, but will take longer to prepare . You could add jelly. set firmly and cut into small cubes. Weight watchers jelly, set the best for this. They will look very nice. The A10 cans of fruit salad are not very interesting at all. A bottle of passion fruit is a good addition. Crushed pineapple will fill in the gaps. Shake the cans before you buy, You will hear the tins that are all juice, you will be surprised at how many cans you will discard.
raewyn64, Apr 10, 9:02pm
one lesson I learnt the hard way- don't add tamarilos to a fruit salad unless you want everything to be red in your salad lol :) - the red banana just did not look right :)