My Adventure in Making Apple Swans Turns Jurassic

By Michelle D.

Recently, I watched this fantastic video on how to make art out of fruit and vegetables by Scrumdiddlyumptious. I was super inspired by the swans. Here was this incredibly creative way to make wonderful edible decorations that would be right at home at either a kid’s birthday party or an outdoor wedding reception. Talk about versatile! Also, I happened to have apples on hand so swans it was.

The first part of carving an apple into a swan is to make the body. I used a large apple to give myself more surface area to work with. I took one apple and cut it in half. This is the base of the body. The wings are made from nested V cuts and boy they are nowhere near as easy as they look in the video. I had to swap to a paring knife halfway through for better control. The apple skin was more resistant than the flesh so my knife kept biting deeper than I expected it to, every time it pierced through the skin.

Slice the apple in half to form the body

Make nested V cuts to form the wings

Next was the neck. I cut a slab from the other half of the apple. Then, I carved a “7” out of it. It is much easier carving the neck with the apple slice on the cutting board and the knife held vertically as opposed to trying to do it in my hand. Apparently, apples are fragile carving material, haha. My first neck did not go as planned. I didn’t realize the chef shallowed out the cut at the end and ended up making a plain C shape. Fortunately, it was easy enough to salvage.

The last step is to mount the neck on the body with a toothpick. My apple was starting to brown by the time I finished the swan. This was partly because I was going slow to be cautious, taking tons of photos, and new at the craft. It still is something to account for. If I were going to make a whole flotilla of swans for a party I would definitely be sprinkling them with lemon juice to halt the oxidization. I chose not to do a fancy crest or seed for an eye as I liked the plain look.

Now for the dinosaur!

I admit, the first apple swan did not make it. Instead it became a dinosaur. An apple brontosaurus is a much easier edible animal. I used one of my swan necks, cut a half round thick slice of apple for the body, cut a c out of the body, and boom. Dinosaur.

Now to eat my delicious and healthy creations!

Here is the video I used to make these lovely Apple Swans.  Watch it and make your own, then share your photos so that we can see your awesome creations!