When my nephew was about to turn 4, he asked for a birthday cake “with lots of fruit!” Mom started with a pineapple upside-down cake, then topped it with all kinds of fruit. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, and starfruit were the main ones.
About 2 years ago, I discovered that when starfruit is at the right stage of ripeness, it’s actually very sweet. We’d always found it when it was green and woody. So now, I watch for ripe starfruit, and can them up in a light syrup so they’ll be ready for topping cakes with.
I used to slice up star fruit and put it in salads. Back then, people didn’t know what it was, and it was fun to surprise them.
-JT