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How to decorate a dessert plate

How to decorate a dessert plate

A piece of cake can look a bit lonely on a plate all by itself. Dressing up the plate with a little garnish or a little sauce can go a long way in making a plain chocolate cake look like something very special – perfect for a romantic dinner, a dinner party or just when you want to do something nice for yourself.

Adding a few fresh berries or a small dollop of whipped cream is the easiest way to add to the presentation. A sprig of mint looks nice on chocolate desserts and ice creams. But these are simple garnishes, and to really make an impact, you’ll want to add a swirl of sauce or a splash of coulis to the plate. Chocolate sauce and a fruit coulis (smooth puree) add a little extra flavor to each bite of your dessert, and you can be a lot more playful with them than you can be with a sprig of mint.

You’ll want a small pastry bottle – a plastic bottle with a small tip – or a small pastry bag to do your decorating with. Transfer a thin sauce to the bottle – storebought caramel sauce, chocolate sauce and vanilla sauce will work well, as will any thin fruit puree or creme anglaise – and squeeze a design of spirals or swirls onto the plate before adding your dessert. For an even more impressive effect, pipe a flat area of one color of sauce. Use another sauce to pipe straight lines through the blank palate created by sauce number one, then drag a toothpick through both sauces at a right angle to the lines you just drew. The result is pictured above and is a beautiful canvas on which to plate the perfect dessert (I used vanilla and caramel for that photo).

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5 Comments
  • megan
    February 4, 2010

    Great tips. I have also used that red jell in a squeeze tube to add a squiqqle.

  • tia
    February 4, 2010

    thx!!!

  • Kelly
    February 5, 2010

    Thanks for this great tips, now I know how to do it the right way.

  • dani
    February 5, 2010

    great ideas! thanks 🙂

  • […] How to decorate a dessert plate « Baking BitesA piece of cake can look a bit lonely on a plate all by itself. Dressing up the plate with a little garnish or a little sauce can go a long way in making a plain chocolate cake look like something very special – perfect for a romantic dinner, a dinner party or just when you want to do something … Real Baking with Rose… […]

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