How to make a watermelon cake

How to Make a Watermelon Cake - Eat Spin Run Repeat

As many of you who are regular readers know, I’ve got a bit of a thing for fruits and vegetables. I’ve been told that I eat an impressive amount of both, and my friends who have traveled with me can attest to the fact that I don’t jump in the car for a long drive without a bag of baby carrots to keep me awake. (I certainly won’t be winning any awards for world’s best long-haul driver in the near future… or ever.)

Another person who can attest  to my love for produce, watermelon in particular, is my dad. When my family lived in Bahrain, I’d often insist that we pull over to the side of the road to one of the watermelon trucks. And as you’re about to see, these aren’t your average sized watermelons…

Watermelon truck in Bahrain

(Photo cred goes to my dad for the above shot.)

In fact, when I arrived back in Canada in 2010, one of my first thoughts was “why are these watermelons so small?” I soon learned that this was normal and whatever I was getting in Bahrain was probably watered with some sort of secret sauce to spur major growth… creatine for watermelons maybe?

Watermelon truck in Bahrain

Now that these guys are finally in season (and not stupidly priced), I’ve been eating plenty. After admiring plenty of watermelon cakes on Pinterest over the weekend, I decided it would be fun to try making my own. A while back, I showed you guys how I made a fruit bouquet (Edible Arrangements style), and you’ll be pleased to know that this little work of art is even easier!

how to make a watermelon cake

First, I cut the ends off of my watermelon with a big knife.

how to make a watermelon cake

Then I stood it up on my cutting board on one of its flat ends and chopped the rinds off. Aim to stay close to the rinds because you won’t want any of that beautiful pink juiciness to go to waste!

how to make a watermelon cake

how to make a watermelon cake

Once the watermelon was completely nekkid, I turned it (now kind of cylindrical in shape) on its side so that I could cut some tiers. I sliced right down the middle, then took one of the halves and put it flat on a plate.

how to make a watermelon cake

For the other half, I trimmed it to be a few inches smaller in circumference than the big tier. Then, for both I trimmed about 1″ off of their height and used my knife to smooth out the edges. I was aiming for circular tiers, but you could totally do triangles or squares or hexagons or whatever polygon your heart so desires.

how to make a watermelon cake

how to make a watermelon cake

I wanted to make a healthier version of icing for my cake, so in a bowl I mixed together about 1/2 cup of plain coconut yogurt (you could totally use any kind you like – coconut or almond-based are good vegan-friendly choices), a drizzle of maple syrup and about 1/4 tsp vanilla. Then, with a spoon, I spread about half of it around in the middle of the bottom tier. I placed the top tier on the yogurt-covered area, squishing it a bit so a little yogurt would ooze out the sides.

how to make a watermelon cake

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

Next came the fun part, which was the fruit decorating. I used berries, kiwis, and pineapple for this, but you could use whatever fruits you fancy.

how to decorate the watermelon cake

And voila, the finished product!

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

The fruit around the sides of the watermelon stayed put really well. I had toothpicks ready just in case, but the yogurt mixture proved to be a nice sticky ‘glue’.

How to Make a Watermelon Cake - Eat Spin Run Repeat

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

The pineapple was cut with a cookie cutter, and I think any shape would work as long as it isn’t too intricate. Stars and flowers tend to work the best in my experience.

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

After making the watermelon cake, it sat on my counter in the kitchen for about an hour because I wanted to see if pieces would start to fall off or if the melon would release lots of water. Neither happened, which makes me think this could be a fun dessert to take along to a barbeque or potluck dinner.

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

So tell me…

  • If you could have any type of cake, what kind would it be?

The healthiest cake you'll ever make! Here's a step-by-step tutorial for a DIY watermelon cake. Decorate with your favourite fruit and enjoy! Recipe via Eat Spin Run Repeat // @eatspinrunrpt

30 thoughts on “How to make a watermelon cake

  1. I vote a cake party after our trail run if this is the type of things you are going to keep producing.

    LOVE the watermelons in Bahrain. Now you are making me want to book a flight. 🙂

    If I could have any type of cake, it would probably involve icecream, nutella and peanut butter, but that probably isn’t the right answer…

  2. Hahaha I made a Shark-Melon this weekend for a party. It was SO much fun to make! I love this, a truly healthy cake and beautiful to boot.

      1. The watermelon shark was pretty easy to do, kind of like a jack o’lantern. There is a youtube tutorial that was quite helpful, it took us about 45 minutes to make 🙂

  3. I definitely need to try this and make this for when I go to someone’s summer bbq or something! Such a great and cute idea. PS – I laughed at the “now that the watermelon is nekkid” part…bc right before I read that it was exactly what I was thinking! 😛

    1. Aw thanks girl! Probably doesn’t surprise you that aside from watermelon cake, carrot is my fave too! 🙂 All this cake talk makes me want to have a blogger meet-up with BOTH cakes. Maybe for my b-day this summer we can make that happen!

  4. just made my first melon cake for a friend’s birthday following your instructions. So easy and so much fun……

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