Frosted Fruit Centerpiece 

A few years ago, my wife, Donna, and I decided to host our first holiday party as a couple. A couple's first party is a bit like a couple's first pregnancy. You think perfect planning before the big day will make everything else easy. Think again.

Donna was handling all the details except the centerpiece. She had found a page from a magazine showing a shimmering tower of frosted fruit. Reproducing that centerpiece was my sole responsibility.

My usual response to Donna's requests to recreate items shown on the pages of a magazine is, "I could make that, but I don't happen to have the supplies right now." I couldn't use that excuse this time, however, since all you need is an adhesive of egg white or spray glue, fruit, and finely granulated sugar. I like to think of myself as a master craftsman with a can of spray glue, so I opted for that route.

I put together a "test tower" of pears, oranges, lemons, limes, grapes, and star fruit. I found that bamboo kebab skewers, cut to size, worked perfectly for holding the fruit in place. Once I was satisfied with my construction, I disassembled the tower and took the fruit outside. I've learned firsthand not to use spray adhesive indoors, as Donna can attest to.

I first tried spraying the fruit on top of newspapers. That led to fruit with headlines embedded at all points of contact. The bamboo skewers came to the rescue once more. I pierced the fruit with long skewers through holes I had previously made. With a gloved hand, I simply twirled the fruit on the skewers while hitting it with short bursts of spray glue.

While the fruit was still attached to the skewers, I dusted each piece with finely granulated sugar from a shaker-top container. After about 30 seconds, I removed the fruit from the skewers and reassembled the fruit tower in a crystal bowl. A few sprinkles of sugar added to the top completed my masterwork.

Like any good centerpiece, the frosted fruit was a great conversation starter. And the story of its creation gave our guests a good chuckle.

How to:

1. Choose firm fruit. Good choices include pears, oranges, apples, lemons, grapes, and plums. Try cutting fruit in half to add visual variety.

2. There are two ways to bind granulated sugar to the fruit. Brush an egg white, diluted with one tablespoon of water, onto the surface of the fruit, or use spray adhesive. For food safety, throw out frosted fruit brushed with egg whites after 24 hours. Fruit sprayed with adhesive will last about a week and is inedible.

3. Finely granulated sugar works best for frosting. Regular granulated sugar creates a coarse texture, but it will work in a pinch.

4. Get creative about adding flourishes to your arrangement. Use ribbons, leaves, or evergreen sprigs to finish the arrangement.