FANDANGO Catering Offers 5 Tips for Creating a Dessert Station

Dessert stations are popular at all kinds and sizes of events, not only at larger or more formal events, and they are easier to create than they appear. Dessert stations add an elegant flair to any event and most guests like trying more than one dessert.

They are most appropriate at buffet events but can also be used at a dinner party where dessert and coffee or dessert and wine or liqueurs are served in another room from that of the dinner. They are a big help to the host/hostess because they can be set up beforehand and you don't need to serve anything.

Here are 5 tips for setting up a dessert station:

Tip #1: Use risers, cake stands, pedastals, or tier stands to add different heights on the table. This way guests can better see all the desserts on the table and also creates more room on the table. THIS IS KEY. In general, stagger height and flatness (one dessert high, the one next to it flat on the table, and so on). If you have many desserts you can do this in two rows but be sure that in the second row the high desserts don't coincide with the high desserts on the first row.

Tip #2: You can choose to mix and match small desserts on trays or stands or put one kind of small dessert on each tray or stand. Both schools of thought have their advocates. Mixing adds a little color and shape interest while not mixing desserts on the serving trays, platters, or stands creates a more monochromatic look.

Tip #3: If you're having a dessert potluck, try to put the desserts on similar serving vessels-be they trays, platters, plates, or tier stands--to give the dessert station a uniform look. For more formal occasions avoid cobblers or any dessert that can drip. Consider cutting slices of dessert and putting them on trays or plates--in my years in the event business too many times I have seen great desserts uneaten because no one wants to cut them. Avoid this by either having small individual desserts or by cutting at least one slice from each full-size dessert. Also put out a serving utensil for each dessert if possible.

Tip #4: If you want to get fancy, slice the desserts, pour a bit of a dessert sauce, such as a chocolate or berry sauce, in a small puddle with a spoon in the middle of each plate, and put the slices in the middle of the puddles on each plate.

Tip #5: If you're pressed for time, create an easy dessert station by buying a variety of desserts from a reputable restaurant or pastry shop or caterer. Trios and quads of desserts are trendy this year and you can create impressive trio and quad plates by either putting three dots of dessert sauce in a triangle in the middle of the plate and then arranging the trio--such as a cookie, a brownie, and a tartlet--around the dots or by dividing the plate into 4 by drizzling sauce in a cross on the plate and putting 4 desserts on the plate, one in each quad (plates must be large enough to accomodate the three or four small desserts if you decide to try this).

Enjoy!

Kristina

Kristina Ríos de Lumbreras, Ph.D.
Partner, Director of Sales & Operations
FANDANGO Catering
(713) 522-0077
(281) 796-9841