Making Kiwi Flowers for Garnishing Plates
Cut the ends off a kiwi using a small serrated kitchen knife. Place your chosen kiwi on its side on a cutting board and hold it steady with your non-dominant hand. Grab a small, sharp serrated knife in your dominant hand and carefully slice off both the ends of the kiwi. Try to cut off the ends without removing a lot of the kiwi’s flesh. The idea is just to remove the little nubs on the top and at the base of the fruit, so you are left with flat, skinless ends. You can use this method to create kiwi flower garnishes for things like fruit platters or trays of desserts.
Make a 2 cm (0.79 in) long diagonal cut through the kiwi’s side to the center. Carefully plunge the tip of your knife into the center of one side of the kiwi at about a 45-degree angle. Push the knife in all the way to the center of the fruit and wiggle it back and forth until the cut is about 2 cm (0.79 in) long. The length of the diagonal cut will define the size of the “petals” of your kiwi flower. If you want the petals to be taller or shorter, you can do so by adjusting the length of your cut.
Continue making connecting diagonal cuts around the whole kiwi. Plunge the blade of the knife into the side of the kiwi, all the way to the center, at an approximately 45-degree angle to the first cut. Wiggle it back and forth to make the cut the same length as the first, then repeat the process all the way around the kiwi until it has a continuous zig-zag pattern of cuts running around its center. Try your best to make all the cuts at the same angle to each other and the same length, so you end up with evenly-sized petals on your kiwi flower.
Pull the 2 halves of the kiwi apart when you finish cutting around it. Set your knife down and grab 1 end of the kiwi in each hand. Pull the ends in opposite directions to separate the kiwi into 2 halves. If you can’t pull the kiwi apart, you might not have cut deep enough in some spots. Go back over all your cuts and make sure to plunge the knife all the way to the center of the fruit, then try pulling it apart again.
Slice part way down between each piece of peel and flesh. Start at the top of 1 of the triangular petals and carefully slide the blade of your knife down between the skin and the flesh, stopping when you almost reach the bottom. Repeat this for each petal. Be very careful not to get your fingers in the way of the blade when you’re making these more delicate cuts.
Pull the pieces skin down to finish creating the petals of your kiwi flower. Bend each flap of the kiwi’s peel down away from the fruit in the middle. Play with the angle that you bend them at until you find what looks best to you. Your kiwi fruit will now resemble a lotus flower! You can use it to garnish anything you like or even serve several on their own together like a cluster of blooming lotuses.
Slicing Kiwi for Decorating Frosted Desserts
Use a sharp paring knife to cut the ends off a kiwi. Place a kiwi on its side on a cutting board and stabilize it with your non-dominant hand. Hold a paring knife in your dominant hand and cut both the top and bottom ends off the kiwi. You can use this method to decorate any kind of frosted dessert with kiwi. You don’t have to cut a lot off at either end. Just cut off the parts of the peel that have the nubs on them, so the kiwi has a flat top and bottom.
Peel the kiwi using your knife or a vegetable peeler. Stand the kiwi up on one of the flat ends. Carefully slice off all the skin from top to bottom using your paring knife or a vegetable peeler. If it’s more comfortable and easier, you can hold the kiwi while you peel it. Just be extra careful not to cut yourself if you choose to do it that way.
Cut the kiwi horizontally into slabs that are about 1 cm (0.39 in) thick. Lay the peeled kiwi back on its side on the cutting board and hold it steady. Start at 1 end of the kiwi and slice it into medallions that are all approximately 1 cm (0.39 in) thick. Slices that are 1 cm (0.39 in) thick are just a good starting point, but feel free to slice the kiwi more thinly or into thicker medallions if you prefer.
Spread frosting on any kind of baked dessert to decorate it with kiwi. Use any baked dessert you like, such as a cake or cupcake. Cover it in frosting wherever you want to decorate it with the kiwi slices. For example, if you want to cover the top and sides of a layer cake with kiwi slices, cover the whole top and sides of the cake in frosting. The frosting makes the kiwi slices stick to the dessert, so you have to use frosting to decorate things like cakes with them, otherwise the kiwi pieces can easily fall off.
Stick the kiwi slices into the frosting to decorate your desserts. Cover large desserts, like layer cakes, in the kiwi slices by sticking them flat-side-down into the frosting. Decorate smaller desserts, like cupcakes, by pressing 1 kiwi slice, either flat or sticking up on its side, into the frosting in the middle of the cupcake. It’s really totally up to you how you decorate your frosted desserts with kiwi slices, so feel free to get creative and try different techniques. For example, you could cut the medallions into halves or quarters if you want smaller pieces to decorate with or mix the slices with other fruits like berries.
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