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Smuckers PlateScapers Vanilla, reviewed

Smuckers Plate Decorator

A few years ago, there was a dessert plate-garnishing craze in restaurants. Whipped cream, chocolate swirls, caramel shards, confectioners sugar and coulis in a dozen different flavors were heaped onto plates to the point where they almost obscured the actual dessert! Fortunately, there has been a big scaling back and now plate garnishes tend to be limited to things that actually complement the flavor of the dessert and its presentation. This is great because it’s fun to garnish a dessert plate as long you don’t need a hundred flavors of coulis to do it. All you really need are a few simple flavors tp fall back on that work well with many desserts.

I recently tried Smuckers PlateScapers as a way to add a little flair – with very little effort – to dessert. The PlateScapers come in five flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Raspberry, Vanilla and Chocolate Fudge. They’re described as “dessert toppings” but are packaged in a squeeze bottle that makes it very easy to create swirls, spirals and stripes. I picked up Vanilla because it seemed like the flavor that would be the most difficult to whip up on very short notice. It tastes a lot like vanilla pudding with a hint of cake batter – sweet and with a good vanilla flavor. It’s very easy to use and has a great consistency; it comes out cleanly and has a very minimal amount of spread, so your designs stay put.

I’m not about to start using it on a daily basis (it’s mostly corn syrup and, as I said, fairly sweet), but a little bit does go a long way in the presentation of a slice of cake, so I’m sure I’ll find plenty of occasions to add a little swirl to a dessert before I set it on the table.

Smuckers PlateScapers, plated

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6 Comments
  • LK
    December 1, 2009

    I gotta say, the design on the bottle looks a little like a queasy, pimple-y face…

  • Heidi
    December 2, 2009

    Thanks for the heads-up about these! They are not available in my area, but the Smuckers Online store had them all (there’s lime!), had good prices, and was very user-friendly.

  • Melissa
    December 2, 2009

    Thanks for posting this! I’ve seen the raspberry PlateScapers in a food-service environment, but I’ve never seen them in the store. I would have been wary of the vanilla, which so often tastes artificial. I doubt that vanilla would look very appealing on our white plates, anyway!

  • Carol
    December 2, 2009

    Yay! This looks like a great way to decorate cookies. I just like a little sugar bling – not full on frosting. And just in time for the holidays…Hopefully I’ll find this on my Colorado grocery shelves. Thank you!

  • Dolce
    December 2, 2009

    And when you are done, you can probably keep the container for your own decorating dessert topping !

  • juliussartine
    December 2, 2009

    That news product? I think Smuckers PlateScapers only produce a sense of caramel, chocolate, and raspberries…

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