Fruit Salad with Whipped Cream: Nature's Candy Salad

Imagine the perfect salad to take to your next party. Not only is it packed with a combination of freshness and sweetness because it includes fruit, but this side dish also provides health benefits for your skin and joints.

Introducing nature's candy salad: a fruit salad recipe with collagen whipped cream.

Nature's candy salad can be enjoyed with or after a meal. This recipe is easily customizable, can be made ahead, and is a colorful and delicious treat for your next family dinner or backyard BBQ.

Best of all, the pairing of fresh fruit with collagen-boosted whipped cream offers health benefits that include support for summer-ready skin and healthy joints.

Nature's Candy Salad Recipe

This fruit salad recipe has minimal ingredients and is a perfect go-to in a pinch.

Ingredients

Fruit Salad
2 kiwis, slices cut in half
1½ cups strawberries, sliced
½ cup blueberries
2 mandarin oranges, peeled and split into wedges
½ cup pineapple, diced
Optional: fresh mint, chopped

Collagen Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 scoops collagen peptides (20 grams)
1 tbsp honey

Preparation

1. Add heavy whipping cream to a stand mixer. Starting on low, add in collagen and fully incorporate.
2. Turn your mixer to high speed and continue whipping until thick and fluffy.
3. Next, mix all fruit together into a large bowl.
4. Spoon the collagen whipped cream into fruit bowl and toss to coat all fruit evenly.
5. Cover and chill in refrigerator. Serve cold.
6. Top with fresh mint, if desired.

Nutrition Facts per serving

Total Servings: 8
Calories: 175
Protein: 3 grams
Carbohydrates: 15 grams
Fat: 11 grams

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes.

Tips for success

One of my favorite benefits of this recipe is making it with my toddlers. It's so fun for them to pick the fruit they want to include and help slice it. If you don't have helping hands from family or friends, select fruits that are in-season or that are your favorites.

Here are several different fruit combinations you could try:

• Citrus: Orange, banana, a tablespoon of lime juice, and pineapple
• Berries: Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries
• Tropical: Pineapple, mango, banana, and coconut flakes, topped with a maraschino cherry
• Herbs: Strawberries, peaches, watermelon, thyme, and basil

If you enjoy a little extra crunch, adding chopped nuts such as pecans or coconut flakes to any of the above combinations will give your fruit salad a great texture. Tip: Use salted nuts for a sweet-plus-salty combination that takes this already-amazing side dish to the next level.

Whichever combination of fruit you're using, don't skip the collagen whipped cream. Collagen is especially beneficial as a skin health supplement to help reduce appearance of wrinkles and as a supplement to support joint health, cartilage health and joint comfort. If you prefer, add some vanilla to your whipped cream for extra flavor.

Is collagen whipped cream healthy?

Collagen is packed full of benefits. It's a type of protein that is particularly important for making connective tissue and is a big part of our bones, skin, tendons, cartilage and muscles. Thus, collagen is essential!

While our bodies make collagen naturally as a structural protein in our tissues, supplementing with collagen is shown to improve skin hydration, elasticity and smoothness.

In addition to improved skin health, collagen can also help support healthy joint tissue growth. Collagen makes up about one-third of the protein in your body and helps maintain joint health, cartilage health and joint comfort.

Adding collagen to whipped cream increases the collagen protein in a dish that is easy to consume because of the sweetness of fresh fruit. But you can also make a variety of other recipes with collagen peptides and even add it to your coffee in the morning for easy joint support.

How to add more collagen to your diet

Protein-rich and collagen-rich foods help our bodies naturally produce collagen. However, adding a collagen supplement to your diet supports skin health and appearance, making wrinkles less noticeable. Research shows it also encourages healthy, comfortable joints.

A convenient and proven way to add more collagen to your diet is to supplement with either a capsule or an easy-to-mix powder, depending on your health goal.

References

• Bianchi FM, et al. "Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Hydrolyzed Collagen Supplement for Improving Skin Moisturization, Smoothness, and Wrinkles." J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. March 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8944283/
• Holwerda AM, van Loon LJC. "The impact of collagen protein ingestion on musculoskeletal connective tissue remodeling: a narrative review." Nutr Rev. May 2022. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9086765/