What better dish to celebrate the season’s bounty than a colorful basket brimming with summer fruits?
Easy to prepare in a minimal amount of time, this fresh-fruit medley in a watermelon basket is a visually sweet feast.
Watermelon basket
Seedless watermelon
Pencil
Paring knife
Carving knife
Cantaloupe
Grapes
Blueberries
Strawberries
Pineapple
Kiwi
Garnish: lemons, limes, wooden toothpicks
Begin by selecting a watermelon. We looked for ripe melons with a side flat enough to prevent rolling. However, it may be best to cut away part of the side of the watermelon to make the base even more stable.
Mark around the circumference of the melon with a pencil. To make things easier, we stretched a rubber band around the watermelon, then marked our cutting line with a pencil. (For the photo, we used a black marker, to make our cutting guidelines easier to see.)
Mark two lines over the top of the melon for the basket handle.
Again, a couple of rubber bands stretched around the melon made the marking easier.
Using a sharp slicing knife, cut along the handle lines downward to the body of the basket.
Then, cut around the sides of the basket, taking care to not cut through the point where the handle meets the basket.
Remove the two upper ends. Now you’ll see your basket starting to take shape. Use a large spoon to scoop out bite-sized pieces of the flesh, and set them aside.
Using a paring knife, cut out the flesh within the basket handle, then cut it into bite-sized chunks.
Hollow out the basket; reserve the flesh to serve.
For the scalloped edges, trace the edge of a drinking glass around the perimeter.
Carefully cut along the lines. To keep our shape precise, we started with a rough cut along the line, then went back over our cuts, shaving away a little of the rind at a time.
Combine the watermelon pieces with the other fruits, then return it to the basket.
Garnish the outside of the basket with slices of lemon and lime and spheres of watermelon cut with a melon baller, all attached with toothpicks.
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