Hi, I'm Chef John Mitzewich for About.com. It's a bird, it's an apple, it's an apple bird? That's right, I'm going to show you how to make an apple swan. It's festive and fun, and not as hard as it looks.
Take an apple, the color of your choice, and cut off a little of the bottom to give it a nice base. And one more slice about 1/4 inch thick, that's going to be the neck and head. Place the apple flat down and make one cut down about 2/3rds of the way down, just off center.
Then go in from the side at a 90 degree angle until you hit the cut that you made coming down. Straight lines are very important. Once you take out that section, we're going to go in about 1/4 or 1/8 inch from the side, straight down, but don't go all the way. Stop 1/8 inch from the bottom. Then turn it and do the same thing on the side. That will give you section that will pull out. That's how we're going to form the wings.
Again, cut straight down, parallel to the edge, flip it and cut down the other side, only far enough to hit the cut you just made. Do that three or four times. Three looks good, but four times looks really good. Do that same thing on the other side of the apple. You can spritz with a little lemon juice to keep it from turning brown.
Now for the neck, use the natural curve of the apple to make a neck. You may have to watch the video a few times (like 12). Trim into a neck and head shape. Mine kind of looks like the Loc Ness Monster.
Once you have the neck cut out, take the tip of your knife and make a little square notch in the center. You can dig it out a little deeper until you have it deep enough for the neck to fit in. Spread out the wings. I took a little piece of apple skin to make an eye.
I think this is just too cool for words. It's going to take a little practice… and a few Band-Aids… but it's worth it! Really fun little project. If it doesn't work, you eat the apple, it's good for you. I hope you give this a try. Enjoy!
