Guest post by Dessert Boards author Elizabeth Latham of Hoosier Homemade
Dessert boards have taken the culinary world by storm, offering a delicious twist on traditional desserts. These eye-catching and mouthwatering platters bring people together to savor, celebrate and indulge in the sweetest of pleasures.
You may be familiar with Charcuterie Boards, well let’s take it a step further and create a Dessert Board. Creating your own mouthwatering, show stopping dessert board doesn’t have to be difficult.
Here is a step-by-step guide to help you create a dessert board that is sure to impress your guests:
1. Choose Your Board: Any size or shape of board will work, wood, ceramic or plastic are most commonly used. You can find them at stores that carry dishes and kitchen supplies, home decorating stores and more. You can also get creative and use a basket or a tray that you already own.
2. Choose The Theme: Let your imagination run wild here, is your board going to be used for a holiday like Christmas or Easter? Or maybe you have a special occasion like a birthday. The seasons like Fall are a great time to create a board using the favorite flavors like pumpkin or apple. Perhaps you would like to turn movie or game night into a special memory and serve a fun dessert board.
3. Plan and Gather Your Desserts: Now it’s time to choose which types of desserts you will add. Be sure to choose a variety, remember they can be homemade, store-bought or a combination of goodies. Some popular options include:
- Mini Cupcakes
- Brownies
- Cookies
- Truffles
- Mini Cheesecakes
- Nut Clusters
- Candy
- Mini Dessert Shooters
- Dipped Strawberries or other fruit
4. Size Matters: Keep in mind that most typically guests will take a variety of treats from the board. So keeping them smaller is best, for example; instead of full size cupcakes, add mini cupcakes.
5. Store-Bought Treats: If you are adding store-bought treats to your board, (which is absolutely a great idea) plan a time to shop and where you will find what you need. When shopping for specific themed desserts, it’s easiest to have a picture in your mind, for example, if you are looking for a single color or flavor, like lemon, you can focus on finding those desserts.
6. Arrange Your Desserts: After all the treats are ready, let’s start building the board. There are no right or wrong answers here, however these helpful tips will get you started.
- It’s important to start with the largest item first, whether you have a bowl of dip or snack mix, or large cookies, be sure to add those first.
- Next add the medium sized treats, then working your way around the board, add the next smallest and finish with the smallest treat.
- At the end you can fill in with small candy, if you like or it’s fine to leave some open areas as well.
- Mix and match the desserts to create an attractive visually pleasing board. For example, alternate between dark chocolate truffles and colorful macarons.
- Keep similar items together, like grouping all the fruit in one section and all the chocolates in another.
- And lastly, use the height variation provided by the serving dishes to create depth and visual appeal.
In Dessert Boards: 100+ Decadent Recipes for Any Occasion you will find 50 stunning yet easy to put together Dessert Boards along with 75 recipes that are perfect to add to your boards.
Dessert Boards by Elizabeth Latham
Holidays: From New Year’s Eve all the way throughout the year to Christmas, you will find a board for each holiday.
4th of July Board
Christmas Wreath Board
Special Events: Whether you are celebrating a birthday or want to create a fun board for back to school time, we have a variety of boards for those special events in your life.
Game Night Board
Any Occasion: While we all love the holidays and special moments, it’s also great to make everyday special. Do you have a cookies and cream lover in your life? Or maybe you are looking for a cozy dessert for two. Whatever special moment you want to celebrate, there are 29 boards to choose from.
Fruit Board
Cotton Candy Board
It’s time to get ready to create your own masterpiece. I invite you to dive into the world of Dessert Boards. Embark on this journey with us and together we will celebrate the wonder of dessert boards.