Mango-Rose Fruit Salad

The finale of Ann Ittoop's childhood Easter meal, Mango-Rose Fruit Salad wasn't ever meant to be the star of the show. After a feast of curry-soaked appams and fluffy biryani with raita and popadam, Ittoop's family was rarely hungry. Still, the holiday called for a celebratory dessert, so Ittoop's mother kept it light and simple with a floral, fragrant Mango-Rose Fruit Salad.

A first-generation Indian American who grew up in North Carolina, Ann Ittoop runs her own food blog, The Familiar Kitchen, where she celebrates both her South Indian heritage and her upbringing in America's South. For Ittoop, the kitchen is a place where she connects not only to her culture, but also to the people she holds dearest.

"She recalls her mom telling her about coming to the U.S., trading chiffon saris and long, braided hair for jeans and a short bob yet feeling grounded by the food she cooked," writes Priya Krishna for Southern Living. "'I have to document this. I have to pass it down,' Ittoop says. 'I don't want to lose myself.'"

In Ittoop's Mango-Rose Fruit Salad, the rose essence is subtle, adding a delicate floral aroma to the mango mixture that enrobes chopped banana, apple, strawberry, pineapple, and grapes. This memorable dessert gets its golden color from mango pulp and cream infused with dried saffron threads. The varying levels of tartness in the chopped fruit mixture provides a nice contrast to the mango sauce. This fruit salad holds up well in the refrigerator, so it can be made the morning of the day you plan to serve.