Hot Fruit Casserole Recipe

This is hands down the one recipe on my blog I would encourage you to make. It is for a Hot Fruit Casserole. This is probably the single most favorite dish in my family. My mother serves it at all her gatherings. I made it for a potluck at the office and every single person attending tried it and loved it–five of them asked for the recipe. I look forward to it on every holiday as I know it will be on the table short after arrival. It is such a simple recipe, but the oohs and aahs and "how delicious" comments occur with each new visitor to my mother's home. Anyway, here it is....enjoy.

If you make this, let me know how you like it. What is your absolute family favorite?

Recipe Instructions:

This recipe is not a dessert, it is an accompaniment to main meal.

Servings:

The below recipe serves 12-15 people. I think it is more like 10 personally--most people have seconds so make extra if you are unsure.

Ingredients:

• 9 x 13 pyrex round baking dishes (2 of these are needed for the recipe or half the recipe)
• 2-3 dozen macaroon cookies (Sprouts has these)
• 3 cans (20 oz) of pineapple chunks in its own juice
• 2 cans (20 oz) of peach slices in its own juice
• 2 cans (20 oz) of pear slices in its own juice
• 1 package frozen pitted black/dark cherries thawed
• 1 box or good sized package of dried apricots
• 1 large package sliced or flat sliced almonds)
• Dry Sherry
• Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup melted margarine

Preparation:

• Grease pan well (we melt a thin layer of butter in the bottom of the pyrex)
• Process cookies into crumbs 
• Drain all fruit well 
• Mix all fruits together in a bowl 
• Cover bottom of Pyrex dish with some a layer of cookie crumbs (don't use all crumbs--save for other layers) 
• Cover crumbs with one layer of mixed fruit 
• Cover fruit layer with crumbs layer 
• Cover crumbs again with layer of fruit 
• End with a layer of cookies crumbs (This would equal 2 layers of fruit, 3 layers of cookie). Note: You can assemble fruit and crumbs the day before and refrigerate if you don't want to save time the day you serve it.)
• Cover top layer of cookie crumbs with almonds 
• Drizzle two tablespoons of dry sherry over top layer 
• Sprinkle a sparse layer of brown sugar over top layer until covered lightly 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes 
• Then drizzle 1/4 cup of melted margarine over the top 
• Finish baking another 15 minutes
• Total baking time is 45 minutes to 1 hour 
• Top should be lightly browned. 
• If getting too brown during last 15 minutes lightly cover with foil.