Watermelon Shark

A watermelon shark is a tasty dessert that's sure to delight (and possibly terrify) everyone at your next party. Carving your own is easy and fun, and there's no end to how you can customize this flavourful fruity creation.

Delicious and refreshing, this dessert is a great way to enjoy the long hot days of summer and is sure to make a big splash.

Step 1: Wash and Examine Watermelon

Before starting wash the entire melon and towel dry.

Examine the surface of the watermelon and find the side with the least bruising and best color to be the top of the shark. The mark where the stem attaches to the melon will be cut as part of the mouth, so we'll be cutting from the other end.

Step 2: Cut One End at an Angle

Grab a cutting board and a sharp knife, and then make an angled cut from the end of the watermelon. This angle cut will tilt the watermelon shark when it is upright, so chose the direction you cut carefully and which side will be facing upwards.

Step 3: Sketch Mouth Opening

To help me plan the mouth shape I used a dry erase marker. Standing the cut watermelon upright, I sketched a mouth outline on the top of the watermelon around the stem mark on the rind.

Step 4: Cut and Remove Opening

With the tip of the knife I made a small incision on the outline, then cut along the outline to remove a wedge-shaped piece of the watermelon.

I cleaned off any extra dry erase marker with a damp cloth.

Step 5: Trim Mouth Opening for Teeth

Using a small paring knife I cut a shallow outline 1/2" (13mm) around the mouth opening, piercing the green rind and not going through the white rind of the watermelon.

Cutting perpendicular to the first cut from the inside of the mouth into the white rind, cut into the white rind and follow the mouth outline to connect to the first cut and remove the strip of green rind.

This white rind strip will be cut into teeth.

Step 6: Scoop Out Watermelon Meat

Using the paring knife I cut into the watermelon meat around the mouth opening, then carefully scooped out the watermelon meat. Cutting outlines into the meat can allow for sections of the watermelon to be scooped out in large sections.

Continue cutting and scooping out the watermelon meat until the cavity is empty, saving about an inch from the bottom. Keeping the bottom in tact allows the watermelon shark to act as a natural bowl for any juice that will inevitably collect inside.

Step 7: Cut Teeth

With the paring knife a serrated pattern was cut into the white rind around the mouth creating teeth. I started with large teeth in the middle, then reduced the tooth size towards the corners of the mouth.

Step 8: Make Fin From Off-cuts

A fin for the watermelon shark can be made from either the mouth cut-off, or from the angled cut from the bottom.

Attach the fin to the back of the watermelon shark using toothpicks to secure it in place.

Step 9: Fill Mouth Opening

Cut the watermelon meat into cubes Fill the shark mouth opening with the cut up watermelon, or mix it up with your favourite fruit or goodies.

I used a combination of green and black grapes, Swedish Fish, and gummy sharks, but really anything tasty and colourful will work.

Step 10: Scoop Eye Socket

Using a melon baller, I scooped out an eye socket from the watermelon rind. I located my eye near the corner of the mouth, which I think makes the shark look a little derpy and adorable.

Experiment on eye placement before committing by holding the melon baller over the location you want the eye and take a step back and see how the face looks with your eye placement. When you're ready, firmly push in a corner of the melon baller to start the incision, then scoop the ball out in one motion to create the eye socket.

A large black grape inside the scooped out eye socket makes the beady eyeball for this shark.

Step 11: Optional: Blue JELL-O

To add to the shark motif I decided to make some blue JELL-O to put around the watermelon shark to seem like the shark was bursting out of the water.

I made JELL-O in a shallow baking pan and set it in the fridge overnight. The watermelon shark was placed in a large bowl and the set JELL-O was scooped from the pan into the bowl around the watermelon shark.

Step 12: Optional: Gummy Sharks and Fish

For colour and fun I added aquatic themed goodies. There's all kinds of fun edibles you can find at the store, how about some blueberries, blackberries, or maybe some dried fruit like goji berries or nuts?

Step 13: Surf's Up!

Your watermelon shark is read to be served and make a big splash at your next party. Though it might seem a little fishy, this dessert is sure to fin in.

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Have you made your own watermelon shark? I want to see it!

Happy making :)