These cakes made of fruit give a whole new meaning to the words fruit cake.

In a recent blog post I showed some watermelon cakes similar to the ideas presented in my video lessons Watermelon Cakes #1 and #2.  Now I’ll show you some variations on those ideas. Make sure to read to the end to see some wacky and imaginative fruit cakes.

This first cake made from fruit is about as close to carving fruit as my husband, Frank gets. We wanted to put together a quick cake made of fruit for Franks son’s birthday. My stepson is an Iron Man Triathlete and doesn’t much care for real cake. This was a kind of last minute thing. continue reading…

Carved watermelon rose topped cake taught in Nita’s Watermelon Cakes video instructions.

For diabetics, vegans, people with gluten allergies and for others who simply want a clean healthy alternative to regular cake, cakes made from watermelons are great.  They are pretty, colorful and pleasing to the eye. From a health perspective, watermelon cakes are a  much better choice because they have none of the artery clogging fat, and none of the highly refined white flour and sugar found in regular cakes. Compared to commercially available cakes and cake mixes, watermelon cakes have no artificial colors, flavors, additives or preservatives. Cakes made from watermelons contain only fresh fruit.

Even for people with no dietary restrictions, cakes made from watermelons are an eye-catching unexpected surprise that will delight your guests. continue reading…

Jana Phung carves one of her first watermelon roses

Have you ever wanted to carve watermelon roses?

To a newcomer, fruit carving can seem daunting. Especially when you see lots of photos of carvings by experts and pros.

Carving watermelon roses can be easier than it looks when you get good instructions.

Today, I’ll be showing you watermelons carved with roses by students . In many cases these are their first or second attempts at carving the rose design. Some have carved their rose patterns into watermelons and some have carved cantaloupe, honeydew and other melons. All of these students have learned to carve watermelon roses from my video lessons.

You can see from the first continue reading…

In today’s blog post, I am going to show you how using my new transfer pattern paper makes carving designs into melons and pumpkins SOOOO much easier. In my last blog post, I showed you a couple of celebrity portraits I carved in watermelon. I mentioned the transfer pattern paper as being super helpful.

Not only does this transfer pattern paper let you get to the fun part – carving – faster, it gives you a more clear and detailed pattern to follow. You will see what  mean when you take a look at this short video. continue reading…

Melon rind carving is beautiful, too

James Perales with his Carvings

Here is another set of melon rind carving ideas. Watermelon carving does not just have to be about carving watermelons. Rinds can make pretty carvings, too.

Yesterday, I wrote an article about melon rind carving decorations and serving plates from watermelon rind. Today I want to share with you some more beautiful melon rind carving ideas.

These photos were sent to me and are the work of James Perales. He has taken the rind from honeydew and watermelon and carved it into decorations that really make his fruit display far more dramatic and beautiful that it otherwise would be. Keeping in mind that the rind would most likely be thrown out anyway, these melon rind carving decorations are very cost effective. continue reading…

How long can your melon carvings last?

Melon carvings can often look good for about a week.  They look best the first day. When stored properly they can still look pretty darn good after 1 week. How good your melon carvings will look after a week depends on a few factors. continue reading…

Honeydew carving can be easier than you think once you are shown how.

Here are a couple of melon carvings that I’ll be teaching in videos in my upcoming Carving of the Month Club.

Update: These Honeydew melon carving lessons are now available on DVD. Learn more about my Honeydew Carving Lessons by clicking this link.

Intermediate Honeydew Carving Video Lessons Available Now!

Honeydew flower carvings

These honeydew carvings were the two most requested melon carving designs of the photos that I posted in a previous blog post where I asked readers to vote for their favorite melons carvings that they would like to learn. continue reading…

I’m excited to announce that my new DVD “Carving Watermelons – Roses, Buds and Leaves” is now available in my shop.

It is a great introduction to Thai style watermelon carving. But don’t let the title fool you, is this video lesson you will also learn rose patterns that you can also carve into other melons and fruits like mangos and papayas.

Examples of Fruits carved with patterns taught in "Carving Watermelons - Roses, Buds and Leaves"

I created this video with beginners in mind, however, it’s also helpful for intermediate fruit carvers who would like to improve their watermelon carving techniques for carving delicate graceful roses. continue reading…