How should your desserts look in order to attract more clients?

Today’s consumers are ever more demanding when making purchases, and this includes seeking more attractive and tasty desserts from master chef and commercial bakeries. Therefore, it is vital that homemade and factory-baked goods pay attention to presentation in order to satisfy this public demand. The way a dessert looks – its image – is one of its most important tools for reaching this objective and setting new trends.

Colour, for example, is an important element to be considered when launching new products, as can be seen in products that opt for fun colours such as violet, orange, red or yellow. These are colours which the public finds attractive and encourages them to select a dessert to see what is inside, to make sure it is as delightful on the inside as it seems to the eyes.

Tips on giving desserts an improved image

Professional bakers use specific equipment to help make their presentations more attractive, such as piping bags, pastry brushes, squeeze bottles, plating rings, kitchen art stencils for icing sugar, and so on. With the right choice of plate, tray or flute, combined with a fun design, the presentation of any dessert in such a way is a guaranteed success.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the plate should not be decorated with inedible items. The client should be confident that everything on the plate is edible and, if not, the inedible elements must be singled out for their attention. Any doubts will mar the enjoyment of the dessert. Therefore, it is always preferable to use edible floral decorations, for example.

A dessert plate must not look too busy. Less is more and desserts always look more appealing with a sole amarena cherry decorating them or a fresh strawberry cut in half, or perhaps a side serving of whipped cream or some stems of mint, rather than an excessive amount of ornamental decoration.

What type of crockery should be used?

The crockery to be used to serve a dessert on must be attractive, with a nice design and pretty colours that coordinate with the dessert that is on show, be it a cake, a flan or an ice cream. Therefore, it is important to choose the right base upon which to present a dessert. Here are some ideas:

Cake stands

These are idea for bundt cakes, sponge cakes and flans. They can be made from glass, plastic, porcelain or even cardboard, in either fun or muted colours, depending on the dessert being presented.

Serving platters or dessert plates

These are perfect for whole cakes. They look lovely with natural fruit, drizzled chocolate, sweets or stems of mint on the side.

Small trays, oblong slate platters or rectangular glass serving plates.

These are the kinds of bases used to present Swiss rolls, fruit cakes, carrot cakes and similar shaped baked goods.

Wooden boards

Recently baked cakes are served on wooden bases, as are selections of sweets when a treat is the order of the day.

Glass bell domes

As well as looking elegant, these glass domes protect cakes from insects when being served outdoors. They also keep desserts moist. They can be placed over a plate, or a cake stand.

Square serving plates

These are ideal for serving individual portions, especially of cake or pie.

Individual dessert plates

These are used to serve pastries, brownies, cupcakes and muffins, etc.

Presentation ideas

Combining the use of kitchen accessories and baking aids with a stroke of creativity, you can come up with some of these surprising presentation ideas:

1. Melt coloured jellied or gummy sweets on a plate and use a spatula to paint a multicoloured swipe across the plate underneath a tart or similar dessert.
2. Melt the corner of a bar of chocolate and use it to draw any shape you wish on the plate: perhaps a square, or geometric stripes, etc. We place the dessert carefully on top afterwards.
3. Heat some cotton wool and once it is caramelized it spreads amazing colours across the plate. You can then place a creme caramel dessert on top, or panna cotta, or tutti frutti ice cream made with candied fruit or any such dessert.
4. Melted chocolate always serves as a source of inspiration for master bakers. If you place a chocolate coin on a warm plate with a swivel base you can create a spiral effect which works very well with desserts that are placed on the centre of the plate.
5. Using thin lengths of string on a white plate, you can create multicolour designs with dyed icing sugar by sprinkling the sugar over the plate and then carefully removing the string. This design works very well with fruit desserts, cup cakes or pastries. You can even use a spoon or fork to create a silhouette as, once sprinkled with icing sugar, cocoa powder or cinnamon, the effect caused by carefully removing the piece of cutlery is really remarkable.
6. We can also use a squeeze bottle of syrup to create spotted designs across a plate. Similarly, you can use small circular candy drops that leave a mark on the plate and then the dessert is placed on top.

Here at Lazaya we have been helping master bakers express their creativity in desserts that include a wide variety of preserved fruits of the highest quality. Get in touch today with any ideas or questions.