This recipe for mid-century Fruit Cocktail Rolls brings together the fruity nostalgia of fruit cocktail in a cinnamon-roll-looking package. The dough is similar in texture and ingredients to baking soda biscuits and is sweetened by the filling and a sweet fruit syrup made from the juice of the fruit cocktail.
For fruit cocktail lovers out there, these rolls will be a treat.
We found the larger chunks of fruit cocktail made the rolls hard to well, roll. They also meant the disbursement of fruit per roll was a little off-kilter despite our best efforts. Some rolls had lots of pears and others had lots of grapes or peaches. Next time, I would be tempted to chop the fruit pieces in half or quarters for hopefully a more balanced mix of fruit in each roll.
Fruit Cocktail Rolls - 1950s
Ingredients
- 1 16oz can Fruit Cocktail
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- 1 cup Flour
- 2 tsps Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 Tbsp Shortening or butter
- ¼ cup Milk
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsps Lemon juice
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450℉ and grease the bottom of a 9x9" baking dish.
- Drain the fruit cocktail saving the juice in a measuring cup. Add water to the measuring cup so the total liquid is 1 cup.
- In a small saucepan combine juice and sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reaches a boil. Keep at boil for 10 minutes, then remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in shortening or butter with a pastry knife or two butter knives. Work until evenly distributed and the flour mix is crumbly.
- Slowly add milk to the flour mix, working until incorporated. The dough will be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently roll out into a long oblong until 1/4" thick.
- Sprinkle fruit evenly over the dough and dot with small pieces of butter.
- In a bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkled evenly over fruit.
- Sprinkle the lemon juice and zest over the sugar layer.
- Gently roll the dough keeping the fruit dispersed.
- Cut into 6 even slices (approximately 1½" thickness) and arrange in a single layer in a greased baking pan.
- Once all the slices are in the pan, pour the fruit syrup evenly over and around the rolls. Bake immediately in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Notes
Suggestions for Serving Fruit Cocktail Rolls
+ Serve topped with whipped cream or a dollop of marshmallow sauce.
+ Garnish with additional fruit or just maraschino cherries.
Source
Adapted from a recipe appearing in Kitchen Test Recipes from Canned Food, American Can Company, NY (est to be published in the 1950s).