Monday Morning Mmmm: Cinnamon Fruit Dip

My mom hosted a tea party this weekend. She pulled out her fine china and her prettiest platters, she filled pitchers with hot tea and hot chocolate, and she put tiny doilies on fancy plates. My aunt, cousins and several friends gathered around a few tables to visit and eat little sandwiches and cream puffs. The afternoon included a whole lot of laughter, a few happy tears, tea party trivia and the traditional cousins kitchen clean-up.

It was a good time. (Mom said that next year we’re all supposed to bring a friend, so feel free to begin lobbying for the position of my guest now.)

Before the official invitation came in the mail but after several rounds of emails trying to find a date that worked for everyone, Mom asked me to bring fruit and dip. She assumed that, because I’m a very good, very good cook [please hear that in my lame Rain Man imitation with a splash of sarcasm], I had a tried-and-true fruit dip recipe.

Um, yeah. She was wrong. Not only have I never made fruit dip, but I’ve never really enjoyed eating it, either.

I’m really more of a salty girl than a sweets girl, though I do love chocolate. Duh. So if I have to dip fruit into something (as opposed to dipping chips into something, which I love more than so many things), I want liquid chocolate – preferable raining down from a fountain.

But that’s not what my mom wanted, so I knew I’d have to either figure out what makes up a fruit dip or admit defeat and buy some at the store. I suspected store-bought dip would not be acceptable for this fancy Nancy party. (It was not actually a Fancy Nancy party, though it was a little bit fancy and my aunt’s name is, in fact, Nancy.)

Little did I know that, despite her hours of research into the history of and rules for tea parties, my mom decided that tradition is fun, but in honor of it being the 21st century, she bought all frozen and prepared food and just nuked them.

If only I’d known.

Actually, I’m glad I didn’t know that, because the dip I made is SO good! I started with a basic fruit dip recipe from Brown-Eyed Baker, and then I improvised.

Adding the sugar and vanilla made it a solid (and pleasantly sweet) dip. But it just didn’t seem special enough. Just as I was about to give up (I’m not really a creative cook and going off recipe to add vanilla was a big deal for me.), I glanced into the pantry and saw the cinnamon. Well, first I saw the nutmeg, but that didn’t seem right. So I added some cinnamon and voila!

The cinnamon made the dip. I’m not sure if everyone loved it quite as much as I did, although I did hear my mom compliment it. And they so say that everyone can be happy if mama’s happy . . .

Cinnamon Fruit Dip

7 oz. marshmallow creme
8 ox. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Beat together ingredients. Serve with fruit. Or graham crackers. Or just eat it with a spoon. Not that I’ve done that. That was simply a suggestion.

Have you ever been to a tea party? Do you like dip with your fruit?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 33 Shades of Green, Works for Me Wednesday, I’m Lovin’ It, Sweet Tooth Friday and Foodie Friday.