How to Design Fresh Fruit Edible Baskets
Instead of purchasing a pricey edible fresh fruit arrangement like those from Edible Arrangements, you can create your own carved and shaped fruits at a fraction of the cost. While creating your own arrangement takes a chunk of time and a large application of fine motor skills, with practice and perseverance the task can be accomplished by most people. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Basket, bowl or vase
- Floral foam blocks
- Utility knife
- Assortment of fruits in various sizes and colors
- Chopping board
- Paring knife
- Julienne slicer
- Melon baller
- Lemon juice
- Toothpicks
- Bamboo skewers
- Chocolate bark
Instructions
-
-
1
Select an opaque bowl, vase or basket to put your arrangement into.
-
2
Using your paper and pencil, sketch out what you would like your finished product to look like. You don't need to be able to draw really well. This is just to give you a rough plan for what you need to do for your specific arrangement.
-
-
3
Carve your floral foam with your utility knife into the base shape for your arrangement so that it fits snugly into the container and approximates the curvature on top that you want your finished arrangement to have, albeit on a smaller scale, since you need to leave room for the fruit.
-
4
Obtain enough fruit for your project and wash everything thoroughly.
-
5
Cut your fruits into the desired shapes for the arrangement. A little creative thinking will help you a great deal. Julienne the sides of apple sections to create an interesting texture. Berries can be attached in a row ringing the wide part of a strawberry with toothpicks broken in half, creating flowers. The outside perimeter of slices of pineapple can be carved into rough flower petals while a melon ball caps the bamboo skewer and makes the center of the flower. Oranges can be sliced into pinwheels for a vibrant splash of color.
-
6
Spritz or splash any exposed apple flesh with lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown through exposure to air.
-
7
Melt chocolate bark and dip some of the fruits in the melted chocolate, if desired. Allow to dry.
-
8
Attach each fruit design to a bamboo skewer and work your way around the arrangement attaching fruit structures from the bottom up. Lighter fruits can be attached using toothpicks instead.
-
9
Fill in empty spots with more fruit, if necessary.
-
10
Wrap the arrangement in cellophane to prevent any dust or dirt from accumulating on the arrangement.
-
11
Refrigerate the arrangement to keep it fresh.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Cut the fruit when it is well chilled so that it is firm and easier to cut. Buy extra fruit to allow for mistakes and mishaps. Make branches by threading multiple fruit cuts on a skewer. Don't try to make your arrangement perfect or completely symmetrical. Creating an arrangement with imperfections and asymmetric sides is acceptable, but do make sure that the weight is even on all sides. Prepare the arrangement as close to the event when it will be needed as possible.
Don't use bananas unless they are completely coated with chocolate bark.
References
More Like This
Comments
-
trying to do this with my kids for fun n eat.
