Tag Archives: Black Forest Cake

How to Decorate Dessert Plates With Sauces, Creams, Flakes and Powders

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Most desserts are pretty but you can serve them up so they look like they were made by a five-star restaurant if you do it right. You can make a plate that practically looks like an abstract piece of art if you are clever with how you drool these substances.

How you are going to decorate and what substances you are going to use to decorate are going to be determined by the dessert that you will be serving. This will help you decide on the flavors and colors. First off it is important to choose flavors that complement each other. A good example would be cherry and chocolate together, as would be the case with decorating a Black Forest Cake. You could sprinkle cherry sauce along with grated black chocolate to make a nice garnish. Another nice combination is a white chocolate cheesecake with some kind of fruit puree.

Fruit purees are incredibly versatile and make beautiful “paints” for plates. Blueberry makes blue, raspberries red, kiwi fruits a nice green, Mangos, papayas or oranges make nice orange and nectarines and yellow plums make yellow. If you want to make a vibrant green try grinding up mint leaves. You can use more than one puree to decorate a plate especially if the desert is somewhat neutral, like a rice or a tapioca pudding, a Bavarian crème or a plain cheesecake.

You can also just use syrups to decorate a plate. You can use caramel or chocolate syrup and also the brines that fruit are pickled in to make nice designs on a plate. For instance if you are looking for a striking pink color to play with on a plate then you might consider using maraschino cherry juice.

Flavored powders and sugars also look nice sprinkled on a plate. You can be unorthodox and use Strawberry Quick or candied sour powders to decorate the edge of a dessert. You can also use things like edible glitter. If you want a plate to look especially luxurious you can sprinkle edible gold glitter on the plate.

One of the nicest decorative elements that there is in the food world is whipped cream. Put it in a piping bag or buy it in a can and decorate your creation with dollops, stripes and kisses of cream.

Remember that the simpler you keep the plate décor, the more elegant it will look. You do not want a mish-mash of flavors or designs or this could confuse the aesthetics of the dish.

How to Decorate Desserts With Maraschino Cherries

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Most people see maraschino cherries as being a bit toxic but the point is that they are fun and usually used for decoration. The bright red color comes from food coloring and then being soaked in a sugar syrup. You can get Queen Anne cherries or sour cherries that are healthier but part of the joy of using these cherries is their neon red color. In the old days they were much healthier as they were soaked in maraschino liquor. Nowadays they are soaked in a salt broth.

The desert that the maraschino cherry is commonly found on is on top of a Black Forest Cake. This is a cake made of chocolate and cherry syrup that also has chocolate icing. Usually there is a whipped cream dollop and a maraschino cherry overlaying each serving.

Another popular decorative culinary use of the maraschino cherry is as a decoration for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. In this case the batter for the cake is made and then the pineapple rings and they are placed on top. The cherries are placed in the center of the pineapple rings. When the Pineapple Upside Down Cake bakes the fruit sinks to the bottom of the pan. When the cake is done the pan is turned over and the pineapple rings with the cherries in the center are revealed.

Maraschino cherries are also used to decorate a very special Mexican dessert that involves slicing a tres leche cake into even squares. The cake is soaked condensed milk and heavy cream until it is very dense. Then the cake is frosted with whipped cream and topped with a maraschino cherry.

Maraschino cherries are also used on top of whipped creamed points on Jell-o and puddings. It is common to find a maraschino cherry topping fruit cakes in various designs. Maraschino cherries are also typically used as the crowning glory on top of whipped cream mounds on chocolate sundaes.

Maraschino cherries are also used in cake and pastry decorating whenever a rich, red shiny effect is needed. For instance, if you are making a cake that is meant to symbolize Santa’s Hat you can use maraschino cherry slices as the red coloring for the hat.

A word to the unwise! Before you top a cake with a maraschino cherry it is a really good idea to drain it of excess liquid. Too much liquid in a cherry can drain into the cake and cause it to “bleed” and look discolored.