WOW your watermelon

The exciting thrill of a successful watermelon harvest doesn’t end at picking your prized fruit at just the right time. Have you ever wondered how to hero this bootylicious edible even further? These creative carving ideas and mouth-watering recipes from Life is a Garden are sure to help you get all the WOW’s from your watermelon this summer (with no added sugar and vegan friendliness)!

Frozen coco-melon lollies

• Ingredients: Fresh watermelon and any other soft ripe fruit of your choice (try berries, kiwi or banana) and a can of coconut milk.
• Equipment: A blender and ice lolly moulds for the freezer.
• Method: First, blend your second fruit choice, such as blackberries, and fill a quarter of the lolly mould. Pop in the freezer to set. Then, blend your watermelon (remove as many seeds as possible) together with the coconut milk and pour the mix into the mould (on top of your frozen berries) and freeze immediately. Enjoy your double-coloured, homemade lollies!

Try this: Add a handful of fresh garden herbs when blending your bottom fruit mix for a pop of surprise flavour at the end.

Fancy-pants punch bowl

• Ingredients: A whole fresh watermelon, a bottle of soda water, lemon/lime slices, crushed ice, and mint leaves.
• Equipment: A sharp knife, large spoon, blender, and ladle for serving
• Method: Cut your watermelon in half so that you have two halves that can stand on their own. Hollow out the inside flesh and pop all the goodness into the blender, give it a whizz. Then, pour your watermelon blend back into its shell, slowly add the soda water followed by the lemon/lime slices, and then the crushed ice. Give it a gentle stir and add mint leaves to garnish – voila!

Try this: Add a splash of gin or rum to the punch and a tot of passionfruit cordial as an adult’s only option. 

Fruity-tooty pizza

• Ingredients: Fresh watermelon, coconut cream or yoghurt, seasonal fresh fruits, garden herbs and edible flowers for garnish.
• Equipment: A sharp knife and large round serving place.
• Method: Cut your watermelon into about 3cm thick wheels. Lay the wheels flat and cut into pizza-shaped slices. Add a few dollops of your coconut cream or yoghurt, then add the seasonal fruits (blackberries and green grapes will add a lovely contrast). Garnish with herbs and edible flowers and serve up your edible artwork.

Try this: Sprinkle some cacao nibs or almond flakes onto your pizza for added crunch and yumminess. Drizzle some honey over too, if you must! Mmm!

Porcupine Harold

• Ingredients: Fresh watermelon and blueberries  
• Equipment: A non-toxic marker, a sharp knife, and toothpicks (also Google images for reference will help)
• Method: Begin by planning out and drawing the body of the porcupine. You want the head to be a little higher than Harold’s back end. If your knife skills are good, you may also want to make the top of the head spikey instead of round. Carefully slice along your drawn lines and remove all the rind and flesh from these parts. Also hollow out the inside of the porcupine. Cube the remaining watermelon flesh pieces and insert a toothpick into each square. Fill Harold with his watermelon spikes and don’t forget the eyes and nose! Use blueberries on the ends of toothpicks for the eyes and cute button nose.

Try this: Using leftover rind, cut out little oval-shaped feet to add to the bottom of Harold. You may also want to use a rind piece to extend the nose, and then add the blueberry to the tip.

Enjoy Life is a Garden’s family-friendly, watermelon-wowing inspiration! Your next pool party talking points will be well set with any one of these sweet ideas, especially when you’ve grown the hero ingredient yourself. Remember to add all the leftovers to the compost heap and add a few slices to the bird feeder.

Source: Life is a Garden