Gather your ingredients and peel the oranges with a sharp paring knife. Make sure to remove all of the white pith.
Next, section the oranges by placing the knife along the inside of the orange membrane for each section. Run the blade to the center of the orange and pop out the orange section with the tip of the knife. When sectioning the oranges, be sure to do this over a bowl to catch all of the juice.
When you have cut out all of the sections, squeeze out any remaining juice and discard the membranes.
When you have finished sectioning the oranges, taste a segment to determine how sweet they are. Add a bit of the powdered sugar and mix well. Add more sugar as needed. Place the orange mixture in a serving dish and top with the coconut. Before serving, top with one or more maraschino cherries.
Notes
The sweeter your oranges are, the better your ambrosia will be. Oranges vary in sweetness. If your fruit is really sweet, you might want to cut back on the amount of sugar you add. Conversely, if your oranges aren't that sweet, you may need to add a little more sugar. If you are making ambrosia ahead, cover and refrigerate for up to four days. Then, wait to add the cherries until you are ready to serve; otherwise, the cherry juice might stain the orange sections.I like to use navel oranges, but you can use Valencias or any sweet, seedless variety you want. If your family isn't a fan of coconut, feel free to leave it out.If you want to change things up a bit, you can also add grapefruit or other citrus, pecans, chunks of pineapple, cool whip, sour cream and marshmallows.