Fresh fruit platters and fruit trays don’t have to be boring and lifeless. There are many ways to make them look extraordinary and elicit those “WOW” moments! We give you the ultimate fruit platter presentation ideas and how to put it together.
Why I Love Fresh Fruit Platter Extraordinaire
I love making this fresh fruit platter because my family and friends LOVE it! They all think it looks absolutely stunning. And to be honest, I’m not re-inventing the wheel whatsoever.
People have been cutting out fruit shapes for years and certainly placing the odd flowers here and there is hardly revolutionary!
At the end of the day, I think it’s just beautiful.
But I do understand that one can look at a fruit platter like this and feel overwhelmed and think it’s difficult to execute or not know where to start. Not to worry, follow my instructions below and you’ll be fine.
3 Must Have Kitchen Utensils For Fruit Platters
This is the first thing you need if you are wondering how to make a fruit tray for a party.
There are so many different fruit platter presentation ideas out there but for the purposes of this specific recipe, I used main 3 utensils. I have had these in my kitchen for the longest time and definitely my go to utensils when I’m making decorative fruit platters.
Cookie Cutters
Cookie cutters make for the best and most fun kitchen utensils when preparing fruit trays. I bought myself a small set of cookie cutters in generic shapes but of varying sizes.
It is incredible how people are always commenting about how cute a piece of fruit is just because its been cut into the shape of a heart or star. The kids love the fruit which are in tiny shapes. They tell me they taste better. LOL!
Melon Baller
I have a double ended melon baller of 2 different sizes. And although they are known as melon ballers, I don’t only use them for melons. They can of course be used to ball any fruit that may be soft enough.
I do tend to use the smaller end more often as it reduces wastage and also some fruits are too small to use the big scoop e.g. dragon fruits and kiwi fruits.
Small Sharp Knife
Although this may sound like a no brainer, it is important to have one that is small enough to be used for the smaller pieces of fruit if you wish to make a certain cut.
Some fruit may be soft and therefore a very sharp knife is vital to ensure you don’t inadvertently squish the fruit because you’re unable to cut through it easily.
How to Make Kiwi Flowers
I’m sure you’ve seen kiwi fruit cut into a floral shapes and this simple fruit platter presentation idea is easy to do and they look so gorgeous. Partly because the black seeds against the green or gold coloured flesh in itself is so pretty.
Lay the kiwi fruit flat on the chopping board. Using a small, sharp knife (paring knife size), pierce the kiwi at an angle right in the middle of the fruit.
When the knife goes through the flesh, ensure it hits the bottom of the chopping board so that you know it’s cut right through. Do the same again, at the same angle about 2 cm apart. Continue this all the way around the fruit.
When you have completed one round, turn the knife and cut through in the opposite angle between the 2 initial cuts of the opposite direction. Essentially what you’re doing is creating a zigzag pattern all the way around the fruit.
Once you have done so, pull the 2 ends apart and you’ll get your kiwi flower!
You can pretty much do this for any fruit. The bigger the fruit, the bigger the knife. Fruit with pits or stones, you can just cut the top end to create the same effect. It’s amazing how good they look in fresh fruit platters!
How to Use the Cookie Cutters For Fruit Platter
This is my favourite part! It’s so much fun and if you have kids, they’ll really enjoy this process. this idea came to me when someone asked me how they could cut watermelon for fruit platter to make it more enticing and decorative.
There are 2 things to consider when using the cookie cutter. Firstly, ensure the fruit is soft enough for you to be able to push the cookie cutter through. It’s important they are not too soft either as the small cookie cutters will just turn them into mush.
Secondly, slice the fruit to no more than the height of the cookie cutter. No point cutting the fruit so thick, the cookie cutter can’t reach through!
Quick tip: After using the cookie cutter to cut the shape I am after, I use a chopstick to push the fruit out of the cookie cutter. Works every time!
There are so many creative ways you can use the cookie cutter to create a stunning fruit platter. Some interesting methods include:
- Cut out different shapes with different fruits.
- Cut out a shape from the fruit and display the fruit with the cut-out portion.
- Use the larger cookie cutter to cut out a shape and then use a smaller cookie cutter to cut out a small shape within it.
- Exchanging fruits. Below you’ll see I cut out a floral shape from the green and gold kiwi fruits and then changed over the cut-out fruit. So, the gold kiwi had a green insert and vice versa.
How to Slice Strawberry Fans
I have been cutting strawberry fans for years and love how it displays on a fruit salad platter.
This process is easier done on larger strawberries as you’ll be able to see the spread of the slices more distinctively. You can choose to leave the leaves and stems on if you wish.
Hold the top of the strawberry steadily. Using a small sharp knife, slice the strawberries from one end to another, without cutting through to the top. Essentially, the top end of the fruit, remains intact. But you do want to get as close as possible to the top as you can.
When completed, spread them out gently and lay it flat in a fan shape.
How to Remove Mandarin Piths
Not all fruit needs to be cut up or de-segmented. Present them as a whole and you’ll get a different shape for the decorative fruit tray.
In this instance, I wanted to present the mandarins as a whole. To make it presentable, I needed to remove the pith from around the mandarin.
Most of the mandarins you find that have their piths removed have been done so using an enzyme. They place the peeled fruit into a bowl or jar of water. Add some of this enzyme and it eats the pith away so that the segment is completely free of the piths and looks absolutely perfect.
But although it looks spectacular, I’m not entirely comfortable using an enzyme just to make something look pretty.
So, I just do it the old school way and even though it’s not 100% perfect, I reckon it’s pretty close! Really looks great on a fresh fruit platter and it’s easy for guests to just grab and go.
Using a small sharp knife (see, it pays to have a good knife!) I scrape the piths off. I start at the top of the mandarin and gently scrape downwards and pull off the piths as I go. Even the most stubborn piths give away after a few goes.
Also scrape from the other end of the mandarin to ensure all sides are covered. Sometimes I have to put the tip of the knife in between the segments to nick off some of the stubborn piths.
No magic method here. Just good old fashioned knife skills.
Cut Fruit in Wheels and Different Shapes
For some reason, we automatically cut fruit in almost the same way each time. Why do oranges have to be cut in wedges all the time for example? For this fresh fruit platter, I cut the blood oranges into wheels and wedges so that I would have different shapes and sizes.
This is where a melon baller also comes in handy. If you’re using watermelon for example, ball some of them, use a cookie cutter for some of it and you can also leave some of it in wedges like you would normally have them.
Balling fruit is a great way to create a shape you would not normally have for a fruit salad platter.
Using Flowers for Fruit Platters
Flowers and fruit go incredibly well together in terms of presenting a stunning fruit platter. Edible flowers are simply gorgeous and they elevate the fruit platter tremendously. Not to mention the colours it adds to it.
How to Make Fresh Fruit Platter Extraordinaire
Prepare an Off-cut Bowl
As we will not be using many parts of the fruit as they will be considered as “off cuts”, get a big bowl ready for the off cuts.
So as not to waste any part of the fruit, you can use the fruit for a basic chopped up fruit salad or in my case, I always make smoothies out of them.
Prepare the Kiwi Fruit
Let’s make kiwi flowers with 2 green kiwis and 2 gold kiwis.
As mentioned above, lay the kiwi fruit flat on the chopping board. Using a small, sharp knife, pierce the kiwi at an angle right in the middle of the fruit.
When the knife goes through the flesh, ensure it hits the bottom of the chopping board so that you know it’s cut right through. Do the same again, at the same angle about 2 cm apart. Continue this all the way around the fruit.
When you have completed one round, turn the knife and cut through in the opposite angle between the 2 initial cuts of the opposite direction. Essentially what you’re doing is creating a zigzag pattern all the way around the fruit.
Once you have done so, pull the 2 ends apart and you’ll get your kiwi flower!
With the remaining kiwi fruit, leave the skin on and cut them into wheels. For some of the wheels, cut out shapes. Separate the wheels with the cut-out shape and the actual cut-out itself.
For the other wheels, cut out a shape from each of the gold and green kiwi fruit. Then exchange the insert so the gold has the green kiwi fruit insert and vice versa. I always get a few giggles when my friends see what I have done.
Prepare the Strawberry Fans
For half the strawberries, hold the top of the strawberry steadily. Using a small sharp knife, slice the strawberries from one end to another, without cutting through to the top.
Essentially, the top end of the fruit, remains intact. But you do want to get as close as possible to the top as you can.
When completed, spread them out gently and lay it flat in a fan shape.
For the remaining half of the strawberries, cut them in half or thirds, depending on how big they are, and using a cookie cutter, cut out some shapes. Set those shapes aside. Put the outer part of the fruit into the off-cut bowl.
Slice the Cantaloupe
Remove the skin and seeds. Slice the cantaloupe into thin slices.
Remove Mandarin Pith
Use a small sharp knife to scrape the piths off. Start at the top of the mandarin and gently scrape downwards and pull off the piths as you go. Even the most stubborn piths will give away after a few goes.
Also scrape from the other end of the mandarin to ensure all sides are covered.
Prepare the Rest of The Fruit
Cut one blood orange into wheels and the rest into wedges
Cut the passionfruit in half.
Thinly slice the apples and pears. Place the slices in a bowl of salted water to stop it from turning brown. Pat dry when you’re ready to use.
Remove the skin and the melon seeds and discard. Cut the cantaloupe in half, lengthwise. Slice them thinly and set aside.
For the yellow watermelon, cut it in half. For the first half use the larger cookie cutter to cut out shapes. For the second half, slice them into large triangles with the rind still on as you normally would.
How to Assemble the Fresh Fruit Platter
So how do we make this fruit tray? The first thing you need is a flat surface. You’ll need a platter that is flat or even a large wooden board.
The first thing you need to do is to place the large yellow watermelon triangles at the bottom of the platter to create the base.
Fill the spaces between the watermelon with the larger fruits such as blood orange wedges, cantaloupe slices, kiwi flowers and passionfruit halves.
Then strategically place all the other fruit around the platter. And by strategically, I mean spread each fruit out evenly. You don’t want one specific fruit clustered in one section.
We want a spread of colours across the board. You can sprinkle the small fruit that have been cut out in shapes along with blueberries on top.
When you’re done, place the fruit platter on the floor. I know this sounds ridiculous but it will allow you to see it better from top down and work out if the fruits are all placed evenly around the platter and the colours are all spread out.
Once that is done, place the edible flowers in between the fruit.
The best comment you can get from anyone is “this is way too pretty to eat” or “this is a stunning fruit platter“!
That is exactly what you’re aiming for. This decorative fruit platter is fantastic for special occasions or if you simply want fruit to be presented beautifully.
Once you give this a go, I guarantee that you’ll look at fruit trays so differently. Go on! Go create the most stunning fruit platter you’ve ever put together!
That’s all!
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Fresh Fruit Platter Extraordinaire
Ingredients
- 4 green kiwi fruit
- 4 gold kiwi
- 4 mandarins
- 3 blood orange
- 2 passionfruit
- 1 punnet strawberries
- 1 red apple
- 1 pear
- ¼ yellow watermelon
- ½ cantaloupe
- 1 punnet blueberries
Click on the toggle below for conversion to US Cooking Units.
Instructions
Kiwi Fruit
- Make kiwi flowers with 2 green kiwis and 2 gold kiwis. Lay the kiwi fruit flat on the chopping board. Using a paring knife, pierce the kiwi at an angle right in the middle of the fruit. When the knife goes through the flesh, ensure it hits the bottom of the chopping board so that you know it’s cut right through. Do the same again, at the same angle about 2 cm apart. Continue this all the way around the fruit.
- When you have completed one round, turn the knife and cut through in the opposite angle between the 2 initial cuts of the opposite direction.
- Essentially what you’re doing is creating a zigzag pattern all the way around the fruit. Once you have done so, pull the 2 ends apart.
- Slice the remaining kiwi fruit about 1.5cm to 2cm thick.
- Use a cookie cutter and cut out a shape for half of those wheels.
- Separate the wheel with the cut out and the actual cut out fruit.
- For the remaining wheels, use a very small cookie cutter to cut out one shape in the middle.
- Insert the green kiwi cut out shape into the gold kiwi wheel.
Rest of The Fruit
- Peel all the mandarins and leave them as a whole fruit. Using a small sharp knife, peel off all the piths.
- Slice 1 blood orange into large wheels. Cut the remaining 2 blood oranges into wedges.
- Cut the passionfruit in half.
- Slice half the strawberries into a fan shape. Hold the strawberry at the stem. Using a small sharp knife, slice the strawberries from one end to another, without cutting through to the top. Spread out the cut slices so it looks like a fan.For the remaining half of the strawberries, cut them in half (or thirds if they are big) and using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes. We will not be using the outer part of the strawberry.
- Thinly slice the apples and pears. Place the slices in a small mixing bowl of salted water to stop it from turning brown. Pat dry when you’re ready to use.
- Discard the skin and seeds of the cantaloupe. Cut in half lengthwise and slice thinly.
- For the yellow watermelon, cut it in half. For the first half use the larger cookie cutter to cut out shapes. For the second half, slice them into large triangles with the rind still on as you normally would.
Assembly
- Place the large triangles of yellow watermelon on the flat platter to form the base of the fruit platter.
- Fill the spaces between the watermelon with the larger fruits such as blood orange wedges, cantaloupe slices, kiwi flowers and passionfruit halves.
- Place the rest of the fruit evenly across the platter. Ensure the fruits are spread out evenly for colour, texture and aesthetics. Sprinkle the smaller cut out fruit and blueberries on top.
Equipment
Notes
- You can of course use any fruit you wish to create this fresh fruit platter. This was just a way for us to show you how you can use different shapes and sizes to create a decorative fruit platter.
- Blood oranges can be substituted with regular oranges.
- Yellow watermelon can be substituted with red watermelon.
- Cantaloupe can be substituted with any other melon in particular Canary melon and Piel de Sapo melon.
- Flowers are of course optional but they sure do elevate that fruit platter. You can find edible flowers at any fine food grocer or you can even order them online.
Nutrition
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Beautiful Fruit Platter will definately try this for Xmas . Are they Statice flower you used for decoration? They look stunning on the platter. One of my favorite flowers
Thank you so much Lynette! Yes it is Statice flower. I had a couple at home a the time and thought to add it although I did have to let everyone know it wasn’t edible! But it was so pretty I couldn’t resist. Have a lovely Christmas!
This looks so fresh and vibrant. I love all the fruit in this platter.
Thank you! Just creating different ways to present a fruit platter.
This fruit tray is definitely NOT boring! What a stunning fruit tray platter you have created!
Yay! If you think that then we have succeeded!
This Fresh fruit platter is simply beautiful. I cannot tell you enough how impressive your fresh fruit platter looks! This would be perfect for taking to my family for the holidays. Is there any chance I could talk you into making it? LOL! I am excited to make this for them. I know they are going to love it!!!
Happy Holidays!
Heidy!
Hahaha! Definitely a great platter to take over to your family’s. You can actually cut it all up and get them ready separately and then assemble it there too. I usually do this and put it in a cooler with ice packs. Helpful if they don’t have a lot of fridge space. Happy holidays to you too!
I have never seen such gorgeous platter. Can’t wait to share this with my family. Just amazing
Thanks so much!
This is one stunning fruit platter and I really appreciate all the great presentation and fruit cutting tips. I’m excited to give some of them a try. Thank you!
You welcome Colleen! Glad it’s given you some inspiration!
This is hands down the most beautiful fruit platter I’ve ever seen! My goodness what a work of art! I love cut outs too…such a fun idea to make it a little extra! Thanks for the tips!
You welcome Tammy! Just trying to spruce up the good ol’ fruit platter. And you’re right, it’s super fun to do.
This fruit salad is not only delicious, it is absolutely beautiful. Your pictures with all the tropical fruits truly shows how much variety there is out there.
You’re absolutely right! So much we can do with all the fruit available to us! I sometimes head to different shopping areas or markets just to see what other produce they may have that I don’t normally have access to.
WOW! Move over cheese board! This is such an excellent idea and will give such a nice fresh healthy addition to all the heavy comfort foods this holiday.
Exactly right Valerie! We will definitely be over eating these holidays after the year we’ve had. The fruit will be a welcome change at the end.
Now THIS is the kind of fruit platter I want to dive into! It is as gorgeous as delicious and perfect for any kind of gathering. Thank you!
Thanks so much! We do find that when we present it this way, it does tend to get finished!
I have never seen a fruit tray as beautiful as this is! This is just so stunning and creative!
Thanks Leslie!
wow! this is an insanely gorgeous platter! the colors are so vibrant! the perfect addition to any party table!
Thanks so much Kerri! They really are great for any party. We get so many comments everytime we make it.
What an abundance of colors & flavors! Love how you cut the fruit, it gives so much interest to a simple dish! Gorgeous, delicious & healthy!
Thank you! Just wanting to create something a little different to spruce it up! And it’s fun to do too.
Fruit salad is never going to be the same again in my house! You have so inspired me to make this stunning fruit platter my go-to for special occasions (and maybe even not so special occasions) !
They’re perfect for special occasions. I get so many comments every time I do it and it’s just fruit! Don’t even need to cook anything!
This is a work of art. I really hadn’t thought of making a fruit platter like this. It looks so much better than a fruit salad where everything is jumbled together. You’ve certainly inspired me to make one of these beautiful fruit trays for brunch next Sunday.
That’s great and I hope you do! Hope everyone enjoys it!
This will certainly brighten up a holiday table, so colorful and gorgeous! And I haven’t used my melon baller in a long time lol, so I must make something as tempting as this platter!
It sure would be good for Xmas! I have Xmas themed cookie cutters for the holidays. And I have found the kids tend to eat more of it too!
Wow. I used to make platters for a living but these fruit platters? There is nothing I have ever seen that compares to these. The colours and design are out of this world beautiful. I am definitely going to be amping up my game from now on!
Oh wow! That is such an amazing comment. I’m glad you think it looks great:)
What a great idea! This will be a beautiful centerpiece at any celebration! It doesn’t just look pretty but also delicious and healthy!
Thank you! Just wanted to make the platter a little more appetising and fun as opposed to just throwing all the fruit in one bowl. It sure has been popular.
what a beautiful fruit platter! Thanks for sharing all your techniques to make the platter exceptional
You’re welcome! Hope you’re inspired to try some of the techniques!
The presentation is beautiful! I love all the ways you show how to cut the fruit. I would have never thought to use cookie cutters. My brunch menu is going to be stunning. Thank you.
Hahaha! Love it! Yes, cookie cutters aren’t just for cookie dough:)
I absolutely love this, not only pleasing to the eye but something the kids can help me make and I know it will be enjoyed by them all!
This fruit salad is so beautiful and vibrant! Not boring at all with the clever cut-outs! Love it!
Aww thank you Lesli! That’s exactly what we were trying to do, amp up a simple fruit platter. Great to bring to a party!