Description
Creamy grape salad delights taste buds with a perfect blend of sweet grapes, tangy cream cheese, and crunchy pecans. Chilled and refreshing, this simple dessert brings summer joy to your table.
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup (240 g) sour cream
- ⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 lbs (900 g) seedless red grapes, washed and halved if large
- 2 lbs (900 g) seedless green grapes, washed and halved if large
- ½ cup (50 g) chopped pecans or walnuts
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
Instructions
- Prep Base: Whisk cream cheese, sour cream, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract into a luxuriously smooth mixture, eliminating any potential lumps for a silky consistency.
- Grape Preparation: Meticulously cleanse red and green grapes, thoroughly drying them to maintain optimal texture and prevent unwanted moisture infiltration.
- Combine and Coat: Gently incorporate the creamy blend with the pristine grapes in a spacious bowl, ensuring each grape receives an even, delicate embrace of the rich dressing.
- Pecan Enhancement: Carefully toast pecans in a dry skillet, stirring constantly until they release an intoxicating nutty fragrance and achieve a golden-brown perfection.
- Final Assembly: Generously sprinkle toasted pecans and brown sugar over the grape mixture, creating a tantalizing interplay of smooth and crunchy textures that elevates the entire dish.
- Flavor Melding: Refrigerate the salad for at least one hour, allowing the ingredients to harmonize and develop a more complex flavor profile, sealed securely to preserve freshness.
- Serving Preparation: Just before presentation, delicately fold the salad to redistribute the dressing and toppings, ensuring each serving delivers a symphony of sweet, creamy, and nutty notes.
Notes
- Prevent Grape Wateriness: Pat grapes completely dry after washing to avoid excess liquid that could dilute the creamy dressing and compromise texture.
- Achieve Smooth Cream Base: Blend cream cheese at room temperature to eliminate lumps, creating a silky, uniform mixture that coats grapes evenly.
- Master Pecan Toasting: Watch pecans carefully while toasting, stirring constantly to develop rich flavor without burning, which can create bitter notes.
- Enhance Make-Ahead Potential: Refrigerate salad for at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to meld and develop a more complex taste profile.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Snacks, Desserts
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 7
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg