Here's an easy Italian citrus fruit cup that showcases a variety of citrus fruits. Topped with gelato and crumbled amaretti cookies, it's quick and easy to assemble.
Lightly salted citrus fruit sections, creamy vanilla bean gelato and crumbled sweet amaretti cookies combine to make this pretty dessert that will whisk you away to the sunny seaside towns of southern Italy.
Or at least make you want to go.
We tossed around different ideas for a holiday destination for this Spring, and Italy won. It wasn't that hard to choose, as we have nothing but fond memories of our previous travels in Italy. This time we plan to choose the smaller towns and villages over the major centres. We'll visit some of the regions we've been before: Tuscany, Umbria and the Dolomites, and also take in the Lombardy area in the north and the Amalfi Coast in the south. You can likely expect to see more Italian-inspired dishes in this space soon, as I plan and dream about our upcoming trip!
But in the meantime, we have to eat and that brings me back to this easy Italian dessert. Inspired by Giada's recipe, I chose a variety of citrus fruits that are available now, including grapefruit, Cara Cara oranges, navel oranges, and blood oranges to make this Italian citrus fruit cup. I sectioned the grapefruit to remove the tough membranes, arranged the citrus fruit in dessert glasses, sprinkled it with a little Fleur de Sel and some crumbled amaretti cookies and added a scoop of store-bought Vanilla Bean Gelato (Italian ice cream). To make this truly Italian, you simply have to add that drizzle of quality olive oil and a little honey to finish it off!
If you prepare the citrus fruit ahead of time, all you have to do before serving is add the toppings. You'll want to remove the sections from the grapefruit, leaving the membrane behind, as it can be tough.
To easily remove sections, first slice off the north and south poles of the grapefruit peel. With a sharp knife remove the remainder of the peel by slicing down from the top to the bottom all the way around. The white pith is usually bitter and should be removed completely. Then, beginning on the left side of a section, slice in towards the centre. Without removing the knife, twist it slightly upward and to the right to gently lift out the section. Continue with the remaining sections. When all you've removed them all, squeeze out the juice from the membranes and save for another use, like your morning smoothie.
I used store-bought gelato to finish off this citrus fruit cup and to save time, I also purchased the Italian amaretti cookies (although they're simple to make). I find that having an easy dessert takes any possible stress out of meal preparation when I'm planning a dinner party for friends. This is a light dessert that everyone seems to love. I hope you like it, too!
Citrus Fruit Cup with Gelato and Amaretti
Ingredients
- 2 navel oranges, peeled and sectioned
- 1 Cara Cara orange, peeled and sectioned
- 1 blood orange, peeled and sectioned
- 1 pink grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
- ½ tsp Fleur de Sel
- 4 amaretti cookies, roughly crumbled
- 4 scoops Vanilla Bean Gelato (Italian ice cream)
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp honey
Instructions
- Peel and section the fruit and arrange in dessert glasses.
- Sprinkle with a pinch of Fleur de Sel or flaky sea salt and the crumbled amaretti cookies.
- Add a scoop of gelato to each glass and drizzle each with ½ teaspoon of quality extra-virgin olive oil and ½ teaspoon honey.
- Serve immediately.
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Flavour & Savour
Hi Wendy,
Thanks! The Cinque Terre is magical, isn't it? We also stayed in Vernazza and loved every minute of our time there.
Wendy
One of my favourite places in Italy is Cinque Terre, the group of five lovely little villages on the west coast. We stayed in Vernazza and walked to the other 4 four villages each day. The food and scenery are amazing! Definitely worth checking out.