Fruit Flowers

I've been getting some pressure from friends to blog about this, so the last time I made one, I took a few pictures so that I could.


These are the tools that I usually use (this time I couldn't find canteloupe which I usually use the crinkle cutter with, so I didn't use that this time.) So, aside from the crinkle cutter that I didn't use, there are 2 big flower cookie cutters, a "V" shaped cutter (not sure what it's called), a melon baller, a big machete type of knife, wooden skewers, and on top is just a basket with marbles in the bottom to give it some weight and floral foam to hold the skewers. Oh, and a good cutting board.

I didn't take a picture of all the fruits that I was going to use like I had intended to do, but this is a list of what I used:

Pineapple (whole and uncut, that's what the machete is for)

Green Grapes

Purple Grapes

Watermelon

Kiwi

Strawberries

Oranges (it was my first time trying oranges, they were pretty, but not very functional. I would only do the halves next time.)

Wash the grapes and strawberries so that they are ready to use. After that, the first thing I do is cut and slice the pineapple. If you've never done this before, what I do is chop off the top and bottom, then cut down the sides until you just have the core of the pineapple. Then slice it into thinnish slices - probably 1/2 inch or less (I'm not great with measurements, sorry.) Then cut each individual slice with the flower cookie cutters. I use the grapes as kind of a "base" for almost every fruit. So for the pineapple flowers, I slide on 2 grapes, then the pineapple flower, then use the melon baller for the center of the flower. Usually, like I said, I use canteloupe for the center, this time it was watermelon and I wasn't thrilled with how it turned out, so you'll notice in the next picture that I changed a few of them up (the kiwi was a last minute addition). For the ones I put the kiwi in the middle, it's just topped by a purple grape. For the oranges, I would stick with the big flower in the middle next time (the sliced ones kind of fell apart.) For that, you just chop the orange in half and then use the "V" cutter to slice out little chunks all the way around the top to make it look like a flower. There's no real science to the placement of the fruit, just spaced out enough to keep the balance right. The only real pattern that I stick to is the 2 grapes before any of the larger fruits (strawberries, pineapple, oranges). Also, I find that some only grape spears add something to the arrangement as well.

Basically, you just keep adding to the arrangement until you either are satisfied with how it looks or run out of fruit!

*Tips and tricks*

1. I find that when cutting the pineapple flowers, it's helpful to press down on the cookie cutter, then rub it around on the cutting board to make sure it cuts through all of it. Then turn it upside down and press away the parts that you won't be using first before taking the flower part out.

2. I also find that when the arrangement starts getting fuller, it is easier to add the last part of the skewer last so that you can push it in by the top of the skewer instead of trying to push it in by the bottom.

3. I like to line the bottom of the arrangement with the pineapple flowers and in between those use the strawberries. Possibly just personal preference, but at least you can't say I'm holding out on you.

So there it is gals. Enjoy:)