Last updated on August 20th, 2023 at 09:42 pm
Creating a visually appealing dessert not only enhances its overall appeal but also adds a touch of elegance to your culinary masterpiece. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or simply want to impress your friends and family, the presentation of your desserts can make a significant impact. Fortunately, making your desserts look pretty doesn’t have to be a daunting task. In this blog post, we’ll explore some easy and creative ways to elevate your sweet creations and turn them into works of art.
Cakes
1. Add a ganache drizzle to the top
There’s no need to go all out and frost each cake. Sometimes, a nice ganache drizzle is an easy way to make your cake look elegant and effortless! Bonus points if you want to add some fresh fruit, piped frosting or other decorations to the top.
2. Make it naked
Now, I’m not saying that you should leave your cake without any frosting or decoration! Besides, frosting is the best part. But if you’re like me, piping frosting evenly on a cake is just too difficult and requires too much patience. So, rather than going through all that effort, put minimal frosting on the sides of your cake and focus on the middle layers and top. This style of cake is called a “naked cake,” and it looks classy without all the work and stress of having to make the cake perfect.
3. Sprinkles
Did you know you can also buy edible glitter??? It’s awesome! And it’s a fantastic way to dress up a simple sheet cake, or any cake, really. When you use sprinkles or edible glitter (Please do NOT use regular glitter on your baked goods!), it takes the focus away from the frosting, drawing your audience’s eyes away in case it’s not perfectly even.
Cupcakes
4. Always (I mean always) pipe the frosting
Piping bags and frosting tips can be found in most stores that also sell baking supplies. My go-to is a 1M tip from Wilton. You just draw a little circular swirl with your piping bag and it comes out gorgeous. Very minimal effort, but it makes a huge difference in your cupcake presentation!
5. User pretty liners
I always like to use elegant paper liners. NOT the ones my mom used for bake sales when I was a kid that came in solid pastel colors. Those are old news now! You can find a plethora of pretty cupcake liners just about anywhere. I like these simple but elegant cupcake liners from Target.
6. Use tulip cupcake liners
These also work super well to dress up muffins! However, if you have some larger cupcakes that you want to make even fancier, you can pop them in these tulip cupcake liners and they’ll look like they came straight from a bakery. Your friends and family will be so impressed that you baked them yourself, and all you have to do is user a different kind of cupcake liner.
7. Add candy decorations
This is best used when you use a piping bag and frosting tip to decorate your cupcakes, and the options are limitless! My husband and I had cupcakes for our wedding, and the baker did an excellent job of dressing them up with cute candy decorations. There was an orange cupcake with a little candy orange slice, a margarita cupcake with a candy lime slice. You can also use mini Oreos or chocolate shavings. It’s a small touch that makes a big difference in presentation.
Brownies
8. Add frosting and/or sprinkles
Going the extra step of frosting and adding sprinkles to your brownies can make a huge difference. Yes, you can frost brownies! You can find my recipe for an elegant brownie with a whipped caramel ganache here. Adding ganache or frosting with some kind of sprinkle can make a rather plain dessert into a beautiful dessert to share with friends.
9. Use a muffin pan to get even sized brownies
I love using this hack for my brownies! This way, the brownies don’t get all misshapen when you run a knife through them to cut them. A word of caution though: Use cupcake liners or grease your pan very well! You can also use a brownie pan with dividers that will automatically bake all your brownies to the same size. Again, make sure you grease every inch of those interior borders well so that your brownies come out neatly.
10. Let some chocolate chips show through
If you want a more “regular” brownie, with just a bit of flare, try baking in some chocolate chips. Then, when your brownies are about halfway done, sprinkle a few more on top and let them finish baking. If you pour all the chocolate chips in at the beginning, they’re more likely to all sink to the bottom. This also works with nuts!
Cookies
11. Use a cookie scoop
It seems lame and simple, but it’s true! If you use a cookie scoop, all of your cookies will come out the same size and perfectly round. People will swear you bought them at the store just because they’re all the same size! Also, make sure you space your cookies well and grease the pan so that you don’t ruin the effect when you take them out.
12. Use a cookie press gun
This is kind of along the same lines of the cookie scoop, but even fancier! If you want to spend the cash, a cookie press gun can really up your cookie game with very minimal effort on your part. If you use a cookie press, you can get pretty shaped cookies in no time at all. Please note that not all cookie doughs are meant for cookie presses. You do want a dough that’s thick and doesn’t spread too much.
13. Add frosting and/or sprinkles
I know I’ve said this before about other desserts, but it’s worth repeating! Sprinkles can really dress up any dessert, and they’re so easy to apply. Frosting cookies can be a little difficult if you want it to look professional. However, I find it easiest to use frosting that isn’t very thick and let it get to room temperature. Then, you can put on a simple layer of white (or any color!) frosting and decorate to your heart’s content with some sprinkles, candy bits or anything else that comes to mind.
Pies
14. Make it a galette
First of all, just throwing out the word galette in front of your friends and family makes you sound like a culinary genius! However, galettes are really just pies with less filling that you don’t have to feel as stressed about making perfectly symmetrical. There’s a bit of charm to a homemade, unevenly shaped galette.
15. Use a dough cutter
I admit, I am too lazy to hand make those beautiful lattice top pie crusts! However, in the 21st century there’s no need for bakers to stress over that anymore! We can just buy simple pie dough cutters that make those beautiful designs in the pie crust for us. It’s a fantastically simple way to dress up your pies with a fancy crust.
