Upper-Class Fruit Salad

The Unofficial Downtown Abbey Cookbook, p. 162

4 fresh pears, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 peaches, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 oranges, cut into bite-sized pieces

½ cup raspberries

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¾ cup simple syrup (1 part sugar, 1 part water)

¼ cup tightly packed mint leaves

4 tablespoons rum

1 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stir together the diced fruit, raspberries, and lemon juice.

Puree together the simple syrup and mint until fully liquefied. 

If you heat the simple syrup while you're making it be sure to give it a minute before you dump it in.

Pour over fruit. 

So minty!

Add rum, then stir to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Spread slivered almonds on a rimmed baking sheet. Place in preheated oven for 5 minutes or until almonds are lightly toasted. Sprinkle almonds over fruit mixture before serving.

Pretty, huh?

My Rating: 3/5 "Since this is meant to be a historical British food recipe the fruits included are a little run-of-the-mill for a fruit salad, at least to my mind. It's pleasant (although my choice to serve it at a cookout was probably ill-advised, because people don't want 1920s food at a cookout). The real problem was that it didn't keep well at all. When I went to eat some of the leftovers after our friends had left, the raspberries had turned into a very unappealing almost-liquid mush. I'm very anti-food waste, but I have to admit I tossed the rest of the salad."