Christmas Wreath Fruit Party Tray with Spiced Honey Yogurt Dip

Just the other night, I performed in a Christmas cantata for my church. After the concert, we had refreshments. I had signed up to bring a fruit tray and decided to be creative with it.

Here’s a tip if you are trying to eat healthy and lighter around the holidays. It can be a tricky business during a time with lots of parties and food temptations. If you are asked to bring a tray to a party and you’re given some options, bring a fruit or veggie tray, and you will know that there will at least be some lighter fare available. I’m not saying you can’t indulge a little bit, but you can have some fruits and veggies and a few of the more indulgent choices.

I thought I could form my wreath on a round platter around a central dip bowl. I used a white ramekin for the dip and put it in the center before filling it, just to help me form the wreath shape with the fruit. Green grapes — I found giant ones! — made the basic green wreath, and then I added some red fruits for accents. I made somewhat flower-like clusters with strawberries and red grapes and then scattered a few more red grapes along with some blueberries to break up the green. You could certainly come up with your own variations of this, with different fruits for accents and other types of shapes.

I then added a bow made with Fruit by the Foot fruit leather. I was considering another option before I found the Fruit by the Foot. There were some Marlowe brand sour candy belts that looked like ribbons. One variety even had green and red stripes. These ribbons were much shorter than the Fruit by the Foot, but I thought I could make a different style bow, like the sort you stick on Christmas packages, with multiple loops of candy. That may be another option. In the end, I was very happy to find the fruit leather.

I took these photos before I took my tray to the church. I made the mistake of tucking up my ribbons and leaving my nice little bow on the tray while it refrigerated overnight and most of the next day and then stayed in the church fridge during our one hour concert. I gave instructions to the ladies on kitchen duty to adjust the bow before putting it out, but by then, my ribbon was sticky, had stuck itself to the fruit and couldn’t move without tearing. So, if you do this, don’t put on the fruit leather bow until the last minute. Bring your fruit leather wrapped and separate.

I created a yogurt dip to go with the fruit. It’s sweet enough that the yogurt is no longer tart and just has a little punch of cinnamon and ginger.

Spiced Honey Yogurt Dip Recipe

2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

You can print my Spiced Honey Yogurt Dip recipe card here.