Edible Fruit Bouquet

A Valentines day dessert that is easy, no-cook, low-calorie, frugal, tasty and looks like a million bucks. Yes thats this Edible Fruit Bouquet. 

I had made this bouquet for my in-laws anniversary. They loved it and it was eaten up in a jiffy. 

Here's how to go about it. 

Ingredients:

Watermelon, 1 whole

Cantaloupe, 1 whole

Grapes, green and black, 20 pieces each, as rounded as you can get

Strawberries, 10 pieces, as blemish free as you can get

Pineapple 3-4 slices

Equipment:

Skewer / satay sticks

Melon baller 

Heart shaped cookie cutter 

Prep work:

Cut the watermelon in half. From one half, cut a 1 cm thick slice, large enough to fit the heart shaped cutter. This piece should be from the centre to avoid the seeds. Use the cutter to get a heart shaped piece and put a skewer through it such that it goes midway to the fruit. From the same half, scoop out 12-13 balls with the help of the melon baller. Skewer 3 balls on a stick and make 3 such sticks. Rest will be used for the pineapple flowers.

Cut the cantaloupe in half. Peel half the cantaloupe. Remove the seeds and inner membrane of the fruit. Cut wedges from the fruit. See shape in photo. Put a skewer thru the flat part of the fruit. Prepare 8 such slices. From the other half, carve out a few balls with the melon baller. 

Take the pineapple slice, put a skewer through the centre and put a melon ball on top. Prepare 3 such slices or if the fruit is smaller, 4 such slices. 

Skewer grapes through the centre, with a few sticks of 3 grapes and few of four. Keep a height variation. Prepare 10 such sticks. 

Remove stalk and leaves from the strawberries and put a skewer through it such that it goes midway to the fruit. 

To Assemble:

Take the other half of the watermelon and cut a small piece from the bottom to make it flat and stable. 

Put the watermelon heart in the centre and the pineapple flowers around it. Keep the heart the highest. 

Next arrange the strawberries and cantaloupe pieces. 

Now fill the in between spaces with grape sticks, cantaloupe ball and watermelon ball skewers, taking care that the sticks holding up the watermelon heart and pineapple flowers are not seen. 

Enjoy!

Notes:

You can put any fruit you like except it should not turn dark when exposed to air like apples and bananas. 

Citrus fruits tend to drip juice and they also dry out quickly, they are better avoided

Kiwi slices add a great colour contrast to the bouquet

You can substitute plain strawberries with chocolate covered ones for a more decadent bouquet

Make the bouquet the day it is to be gifted and keep it refrigerated 

Please consume bouquet within a day

The left over fruit can be used for smoothies and juices. Please do not discard the odd shaped leftover fruit.