Materials

• 1 floral foam or green styrofoam cone (measuring 4-5 inches in diameter at the base and 12 inches high)

NOTE: I know this isn’t very green, so please, please , please try to reuse an old piece of styrofoam or pick up a gently used piece at a thrift store)

• 1 box of toothpicks
• 4 one pound containers of fresh strawberries
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 1 slice from a carambola fruit (also known as star fruit)*

NOTE: If you can’t find a carambola, you can use a 1-inch star-shaped cookie cutter to cut out a star shape from a mango slice instead.

Directions

1. Wash the strawberries and blot them dry with paper towels. Pull off the green stem from each strawberry. Reserve a perfect strawberry for the top of the ‘tree’.
2. Push a toothpick halfway into the side of the cone, about 1/2 inch from the bottom edge. Secure a strawberry to the toothpick, piercing it through the stem end. Secure another strawberry right next to the first one. Continue securing strawberries to the cone in circular rows up to its top, covering the cone completely. Secure the reserved strawberry to the top of the tree.
3. Remove some mint leaves from the bunch of mint and tuck them between the berries, placing them at about 3-inch intervals.
4. Secure the star-shaped carambola or mango slice to the top of the cone using a toothpick.

Makes one table centerpiece

About Tish Boyle
Tish Boyle is editor in chief of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines. A graduate of Smith College and La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, she has been a caterer, pastry chef, and food stylist. She is the author of The Good Cookie and Diner Desserts, and coauthor of Simply Sensational Desserts (IACP Award Winner), Chocolate Passion, and the Grand Finales series of books.

This craft project was sent to me courtesy of