Dessert Buffet: Chocolate & Cream

Dessert and candy buffets are all the rage at weddings and events this year. Photos of stylized buffets, like this one above from a Martha Weddings magazine spread, are almost unavoidable when doing party planning research. As someone who likes to bake and decorate, I've yet to come across a buffet of treats that seems difficult to replicate.

This blue, brown and wintery white tablescape is no exception. The linens are simple, the cake stands are plain, candies are in clear glass vases and the display pedastals for bite-sized goodies are clean and modest. This modern style uses enough basic pieces to allow even those with a tight budget to find a perfect match.

Below are some easy recipes for elegant-looking desserts that you can whip up in your own kitchen. For a smaller crowd, downsize your table and swap out some of the tiered cakes shown above for tiered platters with cupcakes or petit fours.

Clockwise from top left:

Whoopie pies from Gourmet magazine via Epicurious 

Chocolate marbled meringue recipe from BBC GoodFood 

Chocolate-dipped pretzels, photo by Schakolad, recipe from Robin Miller via Food Network

Chocolate ganache truffles by Culinate 

Foolproof chocolate fudge recipe on Hubpages  

Mini vanilla cupcakes by Mary Bakes 

Jordan almonds with a bronze candy coating from Patchi 

"Hot" chocolate cake spiced with cinnamon and cayenne pepper by Country Living 

Hazelnut chocolate linzer cookies from the LA Times 

English buttermints and brown sugar licorice from Fiona's Sweetshoppe 

Boston cream pie recipe from Country Living 

Homemade marshmallows with toasted coconut by recipe by Ina Garten  

DIY: Jam Cookies

I have a thing for packaging, and these vintage Polish jam labels from pan tu nie stal (via Made In England) caught my eye.  The bold colors and cute, simple graphics on were likely a fitting match for their original contents.

More importantly, coming across these labels reminded me that I had a couple of jars of jam in my kitchen just waiting to be eaten! What better way to use up different flavors of jam than to bake these guys? Definitely one of my favorite types of cookies, especially when you don't skimp on the fruity preserves.

I followed this Jam Thumbprint Cookie recipe by Ina Garten, and it was surprisingly easy! I  do bake often, but this was an exceptionally successful batch of cookies. Delicious, too!


Ingredients

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I did 3/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract)
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• 7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
• Raspberry and/or apricot jam (I did both, plus strawberry)

1. Toss all of that decadent butter into your mixer! Cream together with one cup of sugar until light and fluffy.




2. Measure out your extracts! I incorporated a bit of almond extract because I just can't get enough of it in my baking. Add these into your butter and sugar.



3. Add flour and salt slowly but surely, at a low speed. No need to create flour clouds in your kitchen.



4. Mix until a moist dough forms. This happened pretty quickly for me, and the dough was a perfect consistency. Wonder if it was those 3 sticks of butter...?



5.  Shape your dough into a nice flat disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.



6.  In the meantime, beat together one egg with one tablespoon water to create an egg wash. Spread some of the coconut out on a plate for easy rolling access.



7. Once the dough is chilled, unwrap and begin rolling into 1 1/4" balls. I was able to get 30 cookies out of my dough--not too shabby!



8. Dip the dough balls into your egg wash, then roll on plate to lightly coat with coconut. I found that one bag of coconut was just enough to cover them all.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees



9. Use your thumb or the back of a spoon to make indentations in your cookies. You could make them shallow or deep--I preferred to make them a bit deep to hold more jam.



10. Step back and admire your work. Place your cookie sheets in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until coconut begins to turn golden brown.  After 25 minutes, my coconut still wasn't completely toasted, but I didn't want to risk overcooking them.  I removed them and they turned out just fine.



Ta-da!



Strawberry, raspberry and apricot jam in amazing little buttery cookies. I'm really glad this recipe yields just over 2 dozen. Plenty to share and plenty to eat all by myself!