Brought to you in partnership with Woolworths.
Let’s talk about my favourite topic; DESSERT.
I’m the sort of person who checks the dessert menu before I order dinner at a restaurant, because I need to know what I’m leaving room for. Dessert is my favourite meal. And this Christmas, Woolworths hasn’t let us down on the dessert front. I imagine that they had a panel deciding what products they needed for Christmas, and there was a dessert-lover just like me who put her foot down and said, “WE NEED ALL THE DESSERTS!” and then someone delivered.
So, today I’m going to be sharing how to make a dessert platter, and the maths that it takes to make the perfect one. Yep, maths. There’s a little theory that I have on what makes it work, cos it can be easy to get wrong.
A good dessert grazing platter needs to 20% fresh fruit {you know, cherries, strawberries, grapes, or whatever you want to use}, and then 50% bite size pieces to fit all taste buds {biscuits, sweet treats, lollies, chocolates and other goodies}, and then 30% show stopper. The showstopper is your dessert superhero. It’s the one thing that people are drawn to first, the thing that stands out, and that everyone wants to try. This is the item that will get your praise.
Let me show you some potential dessert platter super heroes. Grab a napkin, you’re going to drool.
Dulce De Leche Trifle, just like grandma used to make, only 1000x better. Gooey caramel, sponge cake and custard too… it’s perfection. Scoop into little glasses for individual servings on your dessert grazing table.
Mini caramel tarts with buttery shortcrust party tarts. And gold sprinkles, of course. These are so melt-in-your-mouth perfect, that they’ll probably be the first thing grabbed off the dessert platter.
Fruit mince pies. Woolies does these well. My preference is the Summer Berry Mince Pies, but you could always opt for the classic ones too.
Mini Dessert Selection for those that can’t decide on one showstopper. Have them all! Brownies. Red velvet cake. Lemon tarts. Cheesecake. Why not? These are all so delicious.
Oh boy! Vegan Chocolate & Hazelnut Mudcake. Now, I don’t how the bakers at Woolies have created this sorcery, but I can tell you could serve this to all your friends and no one would know it was vegan-friendly, but your vegan mates would be praising you for thinking of them. It’s just like the standard Woolies choc-mud cake, but almost better. Perfection.
Meet the ultimate show-stopper, Ruby Chocolate Cheesecake. This looks so pretty on a dessert platter, and holy smokes tastes amazing too. I would have generally bypassed this one, because pink food isn’t my thing…but now it is. It’s so smooth and creamy and has a taste that just gets you in the feels.
Crumble erryday, I say! I love this little combo from Woolies of mince pie and the coconut-y crumble on top. Yum. I reckon they’d be delicious if you put one aside, heated it in the oven and ate it with ice cream when the kids had gone to bed. Just sayin’.
Fudgy, lovely dairy-free chocolate cheesecake. Another vegan dessert that you wouldn’t even know was vegan, and it has no gluten. JACKPOT.
So there you have the showstoppers. Pick one, or a few. And then you add your bits and bobs. I like these…
Every pantry should have petite pavlovas for Christmas. I top mine with lemon curd that my neighbour makes in the microwave and delivers too me {everyone needs a Carol, she also sews my clothes too – such a legend!}.
These make great gifts, but are also perfect on a dessert platter.
And when you put it all together… this is what you get…
Now, who wants to come over and help me eat this baby?
