FRUIT CENTREPIECE

At Péché Mignon Life we say, let's do elegant, remarkable and tasty but, always, easy. We also love doing things that serve more than one purpose and look good as well.

To me, there is nothing like using fresh fruit that is in season when I think about dessert. I will be sharing many simple recipes for fruit-based desserts but what could be simpler than raw fresh fruit? You can choose to cut up seasonal fruits and plate them in a fancy display but, again, we are going for easy, so my latest desserts have doubled as my centrepieces! Of course, all fruit should be rinsed and dried before plating.

Fresh fruit was a rare delicacy in Victorian times and was only available to the wealthy. Instead of flowers, fruit was often used to dress the table at lavish suppers as a show of opulence. The Victorians had elaborate dining customs and etiquette, which dictated the use of specific utensils for different types of food, including fruit. Today, of course, we just need a bowl of fresh fruit which can be eaten using fingertips or dessert spoons and forks, but if you are using large whole uncut fruits like apples, pears, plums etc., you should provide your guests with some fruit knives and forks! You can buy a set of fruit/paring knives to provide one for each guest or just provide a couple of sharp knives together with tongs, grape scissors and if necessary, nutcrackers, at the table. Voilà, done! It really does not have to be complicated and then your table display AND dessert for that meal or another are covered.

There is nothing wrong with simply filling a large bowl, or several smaller bowls, with a variety of favourite fruits and putting them on the table. However, with a little bit of aforethought, you can turn that dessert into an attractive table centrepiece that wows when entertaining. Instead of a fruitbowl, look around the house for other decorative bowls, trays, serving dishes or cake-stands (in another post, I will be showing you how you can make a simple cake-stand using everyday plates). Think about the shapes and colours of the fruit and you can add a few leaves, fresh herbs or even twigs from the garden. Perhaps some of the fruit or herbs reflect what is included in the recipes used in your menu. There are so many ways to display fruit and I hope you will be inspired by my gallery of ideas.

If you are determined to spend a little more time on a fruit dessert then you can make a sugar coated fruit display (recipe will be added soon). For serving berries, crème anglaise/custard, pouring heavy (double) cream and/or ice cream are great accompaniments when serving. You could also serve small meringues to allow your guests to add to their fruit plate (watch out for my no-fail meringues recipe!)!