Who doesn’t love a gorgeous display of scrumptious treats just waiting to be devoured? I know that I am a sucker every time and can feel a palpable internal struggle as I weigh which I love more….the visual beauty or indulging my sweet tooth. And while it is always a little hard to disrupt the tidy presentation for the tasty treats, I’ll be the first one to dig in…you know, to make everyone comfortable.
When we moved from our spacious loft a few years ago to our 116 year old home I was ready most of all for intimate rooms and swore I would not miss all that wide open space. Well, I do miss it a bit, especially when it comes to entertaining a crowd. We just run out of places to put things! So using our living room mantel has become one of the ways I solve this problem. Turning this architectural detail into a dessert buffet is certainly functional while also delightfully decorative.
Our mantel is fairly shallow and does not accommodate my collection of cake plates at all so I made my own pedestals by resting small plates on top of paper wrapped drinking glasses. It makes for a beautifully coordinated display and can be adapted to any season. Here I’ve used the S&G ornaments wrap to compliment my favorite lacquered pieces for the tree. A little tape and careful trimming is all it takes to turn your everyday china into unique serving pieces.
I took a cue from my favorite sweets stylist, Amy Atlas, and stuck to a color palette that just so happened to suit my favorite flavors. Snowy white coconut and deep dark cocoa accented with pops of ruby red berries looks sophisticated and seasonal and tastes so so good. Finding and making small scale options allowed me to have an array of options in this tight space- my favorite of all are the mini black an white cookies. I can almost guarantee that you will have as much fun assembling a bounty like this as your friends and family will have ‘dismantling’ it.
Tags: Christmas, Cupcakes, food & wine, wrapping paper