Neither Key Lime Pie Nor Strawberry Shortcake: This Famous Florida Dessert Has A Retro Twist - Tasting Table

"The Florida sun isn't the only thing keeping the Sunshine State hot. Temperatures have been flaring since strawberry shortcake was anointed the state's official dessert in 2022, nudging Key lime pie - the state's official pie since 2006 - over to share the centerstage. But if you're not feeling either one, there's another dessert that puts a retro twist on Florida's famous pie: Florida fluff. Bright, airy, and fluffy - it's perfectly suited for the 27th state."

"The dreamy, chilled creation known as Florida fluff includes the sweet likes of vanilla pudding, sweetened condensed milk, toasted shredded coconut, and marshmallows along with puffy echoes of Key lime pie in the form of lime, graham crackers, and whipped cream. It's finished with lime zest and a sprinkling of rich, finely-crumbled graham crackers. But even though Florida fluff is inspired by the beloved Key West treat, it's really more of a fluff salad."

"Bold, colorful, fun, and festive, fluff salad is audaciously in-your-face. With roots tied to both the rise of home refrigerators in the 1930s and the availability of convenience products like instant gelatin, fluff salad first gained traction in the 1950s as a quick-and-easy party food. It reached peak popularity in the '70s with the iconic Watergate salad which, along with Florida fluff, is just one of the mid-century dessert's seemingly endless variations."

Florida fluff is a chilled, airy dessert that echoes Key lime pie while taking the form of a fluff salad. Typical ingredients include vanilla pudding, sweetened condensed milk, toasted shredded coconut, marshmallows, lime, graham crackers, whipped cream, lime zest, and finely crumbled graham cracker topping. Fluff salad gained popularity with home refrigerator adoption in the 1930s and convenience products like instant gelatin; it rose in the 1950s as easy party fare and peaked in the 1970s with Watergate salad. Bases for fluff salads commonly use Cool Whip, pudding, gelatin, yogurt, cream cheese, condensed milk, cottage cheese, or combinations, often paired with canned fruit and nuts or candy.

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