This baby stroller fruit basket is a healthy side dish for the expectant mom, as well as being easy and inexpensive to make. Follow along with these simple instructions, and your dish will be well received by the new mother and guests alike.
Choosing a Great Watermelon for Your Stroller Fruit Basket
The baby stroller fruit basket begins with a watermelon. You might choose a smaller seedless variety for a smaller baby shower, while a much larger watermelon might be needed for a larger get together. Every watermelon has a flatter side, where it rested on the ground as it grew. This will be the bottom of your creation in order to provide some stability so it wont tip over. When choosing your melon, be sure to take note of any skin blemishes that might turn out to be unappealing.
Other items that you will need include:
- 4 oranges of similar size
- Candied cherry halves
- Pastry bag with star tip
- Frosting, both white and pink / blue as needed
- 3" frill picks
- Card stock in appropriate color
- Platter large enough to serve your creation
- Large paper lace doilies
- Fruit for the fruit salad, such as cantaloupe, honeydew, strawberries, red and green grapes
Getting Started With Your Baby Stroller Fruit Basket
To start, you will need to carve your watermelon. Place your melon onto its flat side. Some prefer to cut a slice from the bottom of the melon to make it more flat, but that can leave your melon oozing juices from the cut area, leaving your platter wet and unappealing. While cutting, it helps to place your melon atop a hand towel to keep it from slipping on the counter.
Using a 6" serrated knife, carve a line horizontally around two-thirds of the melon. Next, carve out the canopy of your stroller. Looking down on your melon, make a symmetrical curved cut, as shown in the illustration below. This will give you the shape of a stroller canopy while leaving a good sized opening for serving. Carefully lift away the cut out portion of the rind and scoop out the inside of the melon.
Fill Your Melon
You can fill your melon with any combination of fruits that you like. For eye appeal, try to include fruits of many different colors - cantaloupe and orange sections for orange, watermelon for pink, honeydew for green. Red and green grapes are a nice touch. Adding halved fresh strawberries is a nice touch but it is best to add those last, as the seeds can come off on the other fruit, making it look dirty. The red of the strawberries will also stain the other lighter fruit, so it is best to put your halved strawberries right on the top.
Add the Wheels and the Handle of You Baby Stroller Fruit Basket
To cut your oranges to make decorative wheels, cut off the ends of each orange, leaving a 1" thick "wheel." Using frill picks, first spear a candied cherry half, then the orange slice. Carefully attach each wheel to the melon at the appropriate places, checking for symmetry. Push the picks into the melon slowly but firmly - they can break easily.
Now it's time to attach the handle. Cut a 1" thick piece of cardstock or other stiff paper lengthwise. At the proper end, attach the ends to the melon with frill picks, again with a slow but firm motion.
Decorate Your Stroller
This is the fun part. Using pink or blue icing - whichever is appropriate - pipe a decorative border all the way around the melon horizontally, along the line of the opening in your melon. Continue along, bordering the edge of the stroller canopy. Fill in the stroller canopy using stars done in white icing. Add flowers if you like.
Place Your Finished Stroller Onto the Platter
Prepare your platter by putting a few tiny dabs of icing down the center of the platter. Place your paper lace doilies, pressing lightly so they stick to the icing. The doilies will keep your melon from sliding on the platter. Set your creation carefully on the platter, place a few pretty whole strawberries with leaves attached around the stroller and voila - you are finished! One last note - remember to keep your baby stroller fruit basket refrigerated until it will be served. It should be kept between 34 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain freshness.
Baby showers are a fun milestone for expecting new mothers. Friends and family, fun (and funny) games, and festive food always makes for a festive atmosphere. Enjoy these moments with great friends, good food, a light heart, and joy for the new bundle on the way.
Leigh VanDeWalker - Meet Leigh VanDeWalker: Leigh is a wife, a working mother, a food and nutrition expert, a malignant melanoma survivor, a grandmother, a ...
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