Watermelon Shape Ideas

The oblong shape of watermelons makes many wonderful creations.

Few things are more refreshing on a hot day than biting into a cool piece of watermelon, letting the juice run down your chin and spitting out the slick seeds. With a crisp crunch and delicate sweetness, watermelon is a great choice when entertaining guests. Here are a couple ideas how to turn that familiar fruit into a stunning centerpiece.

Bowl

Use a melon baller to cut the skin into a scallop edge, then cut through the rind and finish detailing with a paring knife.

To make any shape out of a watermelon, begin by cutting a base. For a bowl, cut 1/4 inch off the end of the melon with a chef's knife so it stands spot up (the stem or blossom end) without wobbling. Using a grease pen or a washable marker, trace a pattern where the melon becomes wide, about 3 to 5 inches from the top but above the middle. This is not necessarily the thickest point, but just above it so the design has some depth as you look straight down at it. Try a zigzag cut by pushing the knife straight in and out at 45-degree angles, or try scallop edges by using a melon baller to cut half-circles into the skin. Tie the pattern into the theme of the party; for example, if you are having a luau, try carving waves with a paring knife. Finish by adding fine details and making edges soft with a paring knife.

Tisket Tasket Melon Basket

Try this double-handle design for something really different.

Baskets are an easy beginning shape for carving watermelons. Begin with the melon on its side, blossom and stem spots at either end, and cut a base, again about 1/4 inch deep so the melon sits on its side without rolling. Trace the handle first, about 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide in the center of the melon and down about a third of the melon. Create the basin by connecting the base of the handles around the body of the melon. Slice the vertical cuts for the handle first, then cut horizontally from the ends to where the handle begins. Use a paring knife to hollow out the handle, then clean out the inside.

Fat Fish

Minus the spikes, let this puffer fish's buggy eyes and curved fins be your inspiration.

Begin with the melon on its side, spots out like the basket, by making a base cut. With one end's spot facing you, use a melon baller to create eyes no more then 2 inches from the spot. Carve out two hemispheres, turn them around and use toothpicks to reattach in the holes as bug-eyes. Use a paring knife or channel knife to carve a mouth just below the spot. Trace the opening no more than a third of the way down the melon. To make the opening look like scales, use the baller to create half-circles through the skin around the upper third of the melon, in a scallop pattern. Use a paring knife to deepen the baller's cut, going all the way through the rind. Then pry off the top and remove any flesh. Turn to the side to create pectoral fins. Use the melon baller to cut the skin and create three attached half-circles, and then use the paring knife to get under the skin and elongate the fins. Use the removed top to carve a tail, and attach it to the back end of the fish with toothpicks.

Out-Rigger Canoe

An out-rigger canoe is the inspiration for this centerpiece.

Begin with the watermelon oriented in the same way as the basket and fish, with the base on its side. To begin the other cuts, stand the melon on one end with the base facing you. Looking straight down at the spot where the stem used to be attached or was originally the blossom, mark 1 1/2 inches above the stem/blossom point (spot). Turn over and mark the other end. Lay the melon onto its base, marks up, and lightly trace a curve to create the hull of the boat, marking about the upper third of the melon; don't go too far down. Carefully cut off in two pieces. Hollow out the removed parts, making a bowl in the larger, the stabilizer, to hold fruit dip, if desired. With the points out, cut two 3/4-inch-by-max-width strips from the center of the small piece. You should have two triangles left. Invert the strips and use a paring knife to whittle them to thinner points, filleting off some white. Attach the hull to the stabilizer using the strips, skin out, about 2 to 4 inches apart. Anchor with toothpicks.

Tips

Don't hollow too far down or hands may get sticky as they try to get fruit from the bottom; go only about halfway down into the flesh. When hollowing, use the melon baller first to have nice pieces to go into the fruit salad, then hollow the remains with a spoon and paring knife, like a pumpkin. Make plenty of fruit salad, and be sure to keep the bowl full so no one starts to scoop flesh.