Pink and Black Dessert Table
Dessert bars are so much fun, I knew I couldn’t resist when my friend, Amanda, told me she wanted one for her 30th birthday. I was completely sold on it once she told me the colors were hot pink and black! This was the first dessert table I had ever done, so I put a lot of time into baking and planning.
The party was held at my friend’s tasting room, Malm Cellars, so I knew I would need to transport all of the desserts and items for setup. Creating a dessert table requires a lot of coordinating, and having some store bought items can make things a bit easier.
Lucky for me, there were a wide variety of store bought candies and confections that fit the pink and black color scheme. I purchased pink snowballs, black jelly beans, Good and Plenty candy, black and white ribbon candy, black licorice, white mini meringues, pink stripe candy sticks, white fudge covered pretzels, pink and white ice candy, white nonpareil gumdrops, pink rock candy, M&Ms (in pink, black, and white), black and white peppermints, and pink button candy.
The items that I made were chocolate covered cheesecake hearts, mini pink velvet cupcakes, mini pink macarons, and pink rice krispy treats.
If you are running short on items, you can always wrap truffles in tissue and tie with a bow that coordinates with your color scheme.
I love the button candy because the little dots really pop and make such a cute display. I just cut the pink portion from a rainbow strip of button candy and then used tape to secure it into a roll. The stacked rolls add a lot of visual interest.
The cheesecake hearts are a crowd pleaser and I am always looking for desserts on sticks because they add height to the dessert table. Whether it’s cake pops, cookie pops, pie pops, or cheesecake pops like these, I like to include at least one “pop” item on every dessert table.
Apothecary jars filled with colorful candies are a great addition to any dessert table. Getting enough candy to fill the containers can be pricey and one way around this is to make some of the items or fill the jars with large items that take up a lot of space. I love to include rice krispy treats in my dessert tables because people really do love them (they are almost always gone first), and you can make them in any color just by adding food coloring to the melted marshmallows. You can also cut them into different shapes and sizes using a cookie cutter sprayed with non-stick spray.
The mini pink velvet cupcakes are a smaller version of my pretty n punk cupcakes. They are frosted with vanilla buttercream and topped with black sugar pearls. I still love Bella Cupcake Couture cupcake wraps, and these are the mini version of their Lu Lu Damask Black and White wrapper.
You may want to consider offering some gluten free or sugar free items for people with dietary restrictions. The french macarons are made with almond flour so they are perfect for gluten free guests. Also rice kripy treats, meringues, and most hard candies and jelly beans are gluten free.
Here are some photos of the dessert bar items in the making. I use sheets of shelf liner cut to fit my baking sheets to prevent the cupcakes from sliding around.
Chocolate covered cheesecake is not only delicious, but also easy to store. I freeze these pops and store them between sheets of parchment paper in plastic ziploc containers right up until the event. They thaw very quickly and some people prefer the taste of them frozen!
I just love these sparkly macaron tops! Pipe your macarons and then dust with a sprinkling of hot pink sanding sugar to get this effect. All these sweets are making me hungry!
Amanda had a great birthday, and the guests enjoyed overdosing on sugar, so I think my first dessert bar was a success. I had a fun time with it, and I hope you had fun taking a look. I am always looking for new ideas and items to include, and would love to hear any of your dessert bar tips, tricks, and adventures!
