tuttifrutti in a caramel basket

Here we are again with Mt Challenge, a seemingly simple challenge, (a fruit salad, nothing more simple!)  but   in fact it was not so: the contest required a fruit salad and the recipe in the blog of  Ale e Dani is far more similar to the Arcimboldo's paintings than to a simple fruit salad... so mumble mumble

I put my mind on stand by and I began to imagine.... I chose the seasonal fruits, as requested, I cut all the fruits very well and put in a good sauce and that's all? go ahead, I told to myself, think about the presentation. Here I am, work on its bowl, and finally a magic bowl of caramel revealed me like in a dream , that reminded me of Alice's tea in the woods with Johnny Depp, more Johnny Depp than Alice (!)... However from my head it had to go out and materialize: it was a challenge also to myself. That's how I did it...

For the salad

peaches - bluberries - bananas - pomegranate - melon - kiwi - coconut - black and white grapes - apples - pears - prunes - mango -  orange and lemon juice - pistachios for garnish.

Clean and cut all the fruit and marinate it in the lemon and orange juice, 3 tbs of brown sugar and 2 tbs of    liquore alla Vaniglia Bourbon (optional) or a liqueur of your choice.

In the meantime prepare the caramel with 

• 400gr caster sugar
• 5 tbs water

1. Put the water first and then the sugar in a saucepan with thick bottom, turn on low heat, without turning start to pray...I joke.. it will take about 15 minutes because the caramel becomes ambered, in the first phase it is very clear, and reaches a temperature of about 110°, it seems a syrup, you must still continue with the cooking, the sugar will crystallize in many gems, from here panic, but then it melts again - have faith -  in the ambered caramel that we need. Never touch the sugar it does all alone, and you must always put in the saucepan before the water and then the sugar. 

2. On the work table spread out a sheet of baking paper, and place on it an overturned bowl and two cups cover them with an aluminium foil. Wait until the caramel becomes slightly cool, it takes only 1 or 2 minutes and  start doing circles and grates with a spoon on them. The caramel will decide which form to give the bowls, depending on how it will flow, this is the beautiful part. When the-part-caramel-sticky is finished,  wait few minutes and with all the patience you have begin to remove the foil from the baskets, but not completely, because on the bottom you need it to keep the liquid of the fruit salad . 

3.  Pour the fruit salad in the larger basket and some small berries and vanilla ice in the smaller ones. Decorate the fruit salad with the pistachios coarsely chopped.  

I participate in the contest  Mt Challenge