How to Create a Fruit Platter

A fruit platter is a lovely addition to any gathering, whether you are hosting it yourself or are bringing a platter to someone else's home, or to a public event. Although it is more economically-savvy to make your own fruit platter, rather than to buy one, many people feel intimidated by this task. The following steps will have you making dazzling fruit platters in no time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Serving platter
• Lettuce for garnish
• Assorted whole fruits
• Knives

1. Buy whole fruits and decorative lettuce. You can use your discretion when choosing which fruits to include, but common fruits for platters include grapes, pineapples, melons (honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon), and berries (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries). The kind of decorative lettuce is also up to you, but many people choose to use Lollo or other similar lettuces that have textured leaves and come in varying colors.

2. Buy or find a serving platter. You want to make sure the platter is sufficiently-sized (an oblong or circular platter will probably work best). Also, if you are bringing this platter to someone else's house, or to a public event where you might not get it back, you may wish to use a disposable platter rather than an expensive, re-usable one of your own.

3. Wash your fruit thoroughly. Even melons and other fruits whose skins/rinds you will remove need washing, as any pesticides on the outside of your fruit will touch your knives, which themselves will touch your fruit.

4. Cut your larger fruits. Berries and grapes can remain whole (many people also choose to leave the stems on strawberries, as they can appear decorative), but melons, etc. should be neatly sliced in pieces of relatively the same size.

5. You can also slice melons and pineapples so they are displayed in their rinds. To do this, cut the whole fruits into quarters length-wise with the rinds still on, then slice along the rind to free the fruit. Without actually removing the fruit inside, cut down toward the rind so that the pieces are standing next to one another on top of the rind. You can then transfer the pieces together on the rind to your platter.

6. Line the outside rim of your platter with your decorative lettuce. You can also use the top of your pineapple as a garnish in the center or at the end of the platter (if it is oblong).

7. Neatly place your fruit onto the plate, placing each fruit in its own section(s). If any holes remain, you can fill these in with the smaller berries, which you can drizzle over the entire plate.

Tips & Warnings

• When you place a bunch of grapes on the plate, make sure then are positioned so that the fewest number of stems are visible. Remove any stems that are no longer connected to grapes.