Candlestick salad

To make candlestick salad, set a pineapple ring on a bed of lettuce to make the candleholder. Cut one end off a banana so the end is flat, and set the “candle” in the pineapple ring. Drizzle a line of marshmallow sauce, whipped cream, or other creamy sauce down the side of the candle to be the melted wax. (The chef in this picture has gotten overenthusiastic about the whipped cream.) Top with a cherry to be the flame.

Candlestick salad is a classic fin-de-siecle recipe designed for ladies’ luncheons.It was considered ideal for ladies because it was dainty and sweet–men preferred heartier, meatier fare. The original recipe directs the lady of the house not to serve it in mixed company, or “the gentlemen will comment.”

This recipe has survived as a fancy-luncheon mainstay thanks to periodic revivals from old cookbooks. Strangely, most of the people who serve it these days are men.

Suggested Variations

Fruit puree at the base to stabilize the “candle.”

Half a peach arranged at the base, with a dusting of chocolate curls on the other side to visually balance the presentation.

Small scoops of ice cream arranged around the base–if very small, a complete ring, but if the scoops are larger, add just one or two, or you will destroy the nutritional value of the salad.

If you’re completely in disdain of the nutritional value of this healthy, fiber-filled salad, dust the banana with cocoa powder and use chocolate or coffee ice cream.

Do you have another variation? Comment below and add it!