Fluffing all the Fruits

A Harry Truman dessert + Chicago's Greatest Morning News Team

California summers are a thing of beauty. Hot, sweltering, arid beauty. Lots of swimming, some beach days, and enough sweating that you’d think I was back on the Taft diet.

Summers call for fluff.

You’ve never heard of fluff? Maybe that’s because it’s a dessert from a bygone era. A light, airy little thing at home in the midcentury but too much work for those of us today with easy access to gelato or Spongebob ice cream bars. I found a fluff recipe that President Harry Truman enjoyed quite a lot, recreated it with excellent results, and have been inspired to go on a fluffing spree (easy now…).

The original is pineapple, and you basically make a pineapple custard and fold in egg whites to create a cloud-like summer refresher that tastes like Dole Whip’s cool grandpa. I truly loved it.

What other fluffs am I going to make? Blueberry. Raspberry. Orange. Mango. Guava (when it’s seasonal, the pink variety). I might even go crazy and make banana fluff and truly walk the razor thin line between decency and innuendo. I dunno. Maybe the Nancy Reagan episode already did that.

For now, however, this is Harry Truman’s Pineapple Fairy Fluff, full recipe:

Pineapple Fairy Fluff

Ingredients

• 1 pineapple

• 1 lemon

• 5 eggs (separate whites and yolks)

• 8 tablespoons sugar

• 3 tablespoons hot water

Instructions

Cut pineapple in half. Hand-squeeze the juice from half of the pineapple and grate the other half. Add to the top of a double boiler. To the juice and grated pineapple, add the zest and juice of 1 lemon, 8 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of hot water. Mix until the sugar has dissolved. Beat 5 egg yolks and stir gently into mixture, making sure to temper your yolks with a bit of the hot pineapple mix first to avoid scrambling. Cook 5-10 more minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture has thickened. Cool. Fold in egg whites that have been beaten to stiff peaks. Chill well in the fridge for 3-4 hours, and serve in stemmed glassware with simple cookies. Serves 4-6.

Light as a feather. I wonder if the shredded pineapple is necessary. Will it hold up, structurally, with just juice? We’re going to find out because I’m fluffing all the fruits this summer — and I’ll report back on successes and failures. You do the same.

In Other News…

• I appeared on Shredd and Ragan’s morning show in Buffalo and had a very fun conversation. I sure do love a rock station DJ, what a job. Link coming soon.

• I was also lucky enough to be on live television — WGN Chicago! The morning news team of Larry and Robin, Chicago legends, had me on to talk Truman, Nixon, beef tongue and much more. You can watch it here.

• Taking a second here to highlight my buddies Bobby Hicks (maybe you know him from Next Level Chef or Instagram) and Dennis Lee (of Food is Stupid glory), who consistently bring me joy with what they’re cooking up, whether it’s disgustingly impressive or impressively disgusting (you can go find out who’s who). Go check out their Substacks.

• Finally, the website is getting a pretty massive revamp this summer, making it more accessible, recipes more searchable, adding some fun new elements and integrating more of what you see on the series. Until then, it’s a little messy, a little slow, and I’m not posting quite as much. Appreciate your patience. In the meantime, get outside, it’s summer! Go jump in a body of water. Have a block party. Fluff a fruit. Take a day trip. Commit time-theft. Have a watermelon-eating contest. Eat like Teddy Roosevelt.

Speaking of TR, I have some exciting collaborations coming up this year, and one of them is with the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library. Doesn’t it look gorgeous? Insane. Anyway, keep an eye out on TikTok and Instagram on June 30th for a new Cookin’ with Congress episode on TR’s drinks and in the meantime, sign up for the Library’s virtual cocktail class on July 1st, 2025 at 7:30PM ET. The class (I’m not teaching this one, but I’m definitely attending as a guest) is part of Civic Season from Made by Us, who I’m partnering with to help empower younger generations to be civically engaged. I was a political nerd as a child, watching The Daily Show and reading up on history books as far back as I can remember. I love the idea of keeping that learning and optimistic energy going. Plus TR cocktails are going to surprise you, trust me.

Check out my custom itinerary of in-person and virtual Civic Season events here (yeah it’s a lot of food stuff): https://www.thecivicseason.com/list/cookinwithcongress/

Stay fun,

-Bennett