subject: Why Presentation Is Important With Desserts [print this page] When you go to a restaurant and they show you the dessert tray and ask you to pick your favorite, or when you walk into a bakery and look through the glass at all the delightful delectable treats before your very eyes your brain signals that you're hungry. Your mouth starts to water and you crave the sugar that promises endorphin rushes. But would your brain make this signal if the food looked sloppy? Maybe, if you were starving and you would be willing to eat anything just for the sake of it. The truth of the matter is that presentation is extremely crucial to our enjoyment of food. If it looks good we are more likely to want to try it. It's just common sense, am I right?
In the expeirence of this author, presentation is the key to pleasing any lucky recipient of dessert (or any other dish). There are a plethora of special techniques you can use to get creative with the design of the dish. Drizzling chocolate, or garnishing the plate with spices, mint leaves, or fruit slices is one way. Another is to create a chocolate bowl to hold the dessert. This is referred to as the balloon technique. First, boil chocolate until it's melted. Quickly inflate a balloon while you let the hot chocolate cool a little. Pour a small amount of chocolate onto wax paper for use as a base for the bowl. When it's warm, dip the balloon in the chocolate and roll it around so that at least the half of it creates a dome. Let the covered portion rest on the wax paper until it hardens--you may need to put it in the fridge. Once the bowl is solid you can pop the balloon and remove it.
You can also decorate your desserts with the standards--icing, candy, cookie crumbs, chocolate syrup, you name it. Practically everything goes as long as you do it in an organized and thought-out manner. It's vitally important one takes the time to evenly space any and all decorations. Plan out the design before you start a project instead of spontaneously doing it in the last few minutes before serving.If you're struggling for ideas look through baking magazines or look online for ideas. There are a myriad of ways to make the food look great. You really just have to take the time to execute the finishing touches.
