Choosing a Platter
o Choose a simple platter with little or no design. Crisp clean colors such as white or black highlight the fruit best.
Choosing Fruit
o Pick firm ripe fruit with a rich aroma.
o Wash and dry all the fruit.
o Crisp apples, such as a Granny Smith, melons, berries, grapes, pineapple, kiwi and apricots or plums are good choices.
o Stay away from soft apples, such as a Fuji, bananas, pears and peaches. All these fruits discolor quickly and do not make for a good choice for a fruit platter.
o Buy berries a day ahead of time, they ripen quickly and can spoil before use if they sit in the refrigerator for too many days.
o Pineapple and melon should be purchased three days ahead of time. This allows them to ripen to there peak flavor before serving.
Preparing the Fruit
o Cut apricots and plums into halves or quarters. Being sure to remove the pit.
o Kiwi should be sliced into rounds and peeled.
o All berries should be left whole. Strawberries should retain the green leaves atop each berry.
o Apples should be cored and cut into wedges. To help prevent the apples from browning dip each apple wedge into a mixture of 4 cups water to 3 tablespoons lemon juice.
o Cluster grapes in groups of 7 to 8 grapes on each stem. This allows guests to pick up a cluster and easily transfer it to a plate.
Serving the Platter
o Group the fruit in clusters sectioning each individual fruit. This keeps a uniformed look to the platter.
o Sprinkle shaved coconut on top of the fruit and garnish the sides of the platter with fresh mint leaves.
