I love when clients are very specific about what they envision for their dessert table. This particular client happened to be my sister who was throwing a graduation celebration brunch for my niece at the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis. Navy and yellow? No problem. Chevron and quatrefoil? No problem. Out of state? Uh, no problem. In 10 days? *gasp* We might have a little problem!

All joking aside, I was thrilled to be asked to do this table as a surprise for my niece, even on super short notice. It is because of me and my daughter that she pursued a Master’s Degree in Deaf Education at Washington University in St. Louis. It is because of her that my daughter loves music, despite a significant hearing loss. This celebration was for much more than receiving a degree. It was the culmination of years of hard work, publishing two children’s books, dreaming of making a difference in the lives of deaf children and most especially, in the life of my child. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea of just how special my niece is to me. (If you are interested in more background, read this interview she did several years ago when she was in college.)

The pastry chef at the Ritz Carlton did a lovely job making a quatrefoil layer cake. It was a moist vanilla layer cake with chocolate fudge filling.

The rest of the desserts were shipped to the hotel from my various dessert vendors around the country. There was a bit of nail-biting until they all arrived on time and intact! Luckily, it went smoothly and most of the boxes arrived at the same time.

One concern I had was how to ship dessert stands for the table economically and prevent them from breaking. As I strolled the aisles of Target the week before, I had an epiphany. I decided to fabricate the stands in my hotel room the day before the event. Target carries melamine dishes in several sizes and patterns. I selected white for their versatility and used custom paper liners in blue and yellow chevron and quatrefoil prints.  At the local dollar store I found simple glass candlesticks. Voila! Dessert stands to go! Here’s a shot of the high tech fabrication process.

After the party, these were gifted to my niece as she does a lot of entertaining. Did I tell you she has a food blog? Mmhm, this gal is a wunderkind.

Congrats again, Mel! Continue to reach for the stars! xoxo Aunt P

CREDITS | Dessert Table Design by Paula Rosenthal of Just a Bite Desserts | Printables by Kori Clark of Paper & Pigtails (Banner, Dessert Tents, Place Cards, Custom Papers, Water Bottle Labels, Monogram Design) | Pinwheels by Pickled Parlor

Bar Mitzvah Dessert Table Styled and Sourced by Just a Bite Desserts

Just a Bite Desserts is once again working with clients designing stylish dessert tables and customizing specialty desserts. We source our desserts from incredible bakers and dessert artists both locally here in New York and from sources nationwide. Desserts are coordinated with your event logo, colors and theme to create a fantastic visual presentation that matches the delicious desserts you and your guests will enjoy. Be sure to check out our updated Photo Gallery for some photos of our work. Contact us to discuss your party needs today. No event is too large or too small. Let us help you finish your affair in sweet style! Email paula@justabitedesserts.com.

Last weekend we celebrated my daughter’s Sweet 16 on Long Island. I’m thrilled to say it went off without a hitch and was exactly what I had envisioned! After making formal bar and bat mitzvah celebrations for my kids in recent years, I wanted this event to be much more low-key but still sophisticated. We scouted locations and found a terrific lounge/nightclub style place without having to go into NYC. The venue’s walls and decor had the perfect vibe – vibrant red walls, wood floors and upscale, modern white furniture as you can see below. (See links at end of post.)

Plenty of delicious hors d’oeurves were served, including Pigs in a Blanket, Mini Egg Rolls, Pizza Bites, Quesadillas, Beef Sliders and more, but the opening Sushi Boats were the biggest hit!

To round out the event’s decor, I placed black and white damask buckets filled with assorted black, white and red candies on all the tables. For the centerpieces, I created ribbon topiaries with black, sparkling ribbons. (See below for link to tutorial.) The custom cocktail napkins were created to match the graphic on the invitations. Here’s a closer look:

The kids danced and sang the night away on the dance floor adjacent to the pre-set dessert table. Of course, the desserts were safely hidden away until the big reveal!

Desserts were carefully selected with teenagers in mind – delicious, fun and easy to eat! I debuted a cute dessert I’ve named Frost Bites. These were vanilla bean and dark chocolate frosting piped into mini push pops.

Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Frost Bites by Just a Bite Desserts

Custom sugar cookies were nestled on cinnamon red hots and added pops of color to both ends of the table.

Decadent Brownie Pops, Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies by Just a Bite Desserts and custom Dark Chocolate Oreos with a damask design disappeared quickly from the table.

Brownie Pops, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Dark Chocolate Oreos

A sparkling cupcake tower was an eye-catching table centerpiece. Stuffed Red Velvet and Vanilla filled with Chocolate Cream Cupcakes were adorned with sparkling bon bons and wrapped in matching cupcake sleeves.

Sparkling Cupcakes

Cookie Dough Pops by Just a Bite Desserts were quickly snapped up and such fun to eat off a stick!

Here’s a look at the full table:

If you are located on Long Island or Manhattan and are making an event, let me help you create a fabulous, delicious dessert display around your theme or colors! We offer full service including set-up, dishes, linens, staff and take-down or are happy to simply cater your custom desserts. Delivery is available. Email me at paula@justabitedesserts.com or call 516.605.0214.

Vendors & Sources:

Venue ~ Chalet in Roslyn, NY

Damask Candy Buckets – Target

Ribbon Topiary Centerpieces by Just a Bite Desserts- Tutorial at Catch My Party

Frost Bites, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pops by Just a Bite Desserts

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Sophisticated Sweet 16 event!

Are you new to the dessert and candy buffet business? Ever wonder what you should bring the day or evening of the event? Here are a few things I find are necessary tools of the trade. Be sure to add your own in the comments section!

• A bottle of water

• Scissors

• Double stick tape

• Glue Stick

• Extras of all candies and dessert items

• Extra dessert scoops or serving utensils

• Extra dessert or candy labels (they can get smudged, damaged or lost)

• Bags or take away boxes

• Twist ties, ribbon or stickers for sealing bags/boxes

• Business cards

• Cash box and singles (if it is a cash bar)

Be sure to wear comfortable shoes (or at least bring sneakers for setting up and breaking down the table). It can be a very long day!

Dress professionally and neatly. You may want to ask your event host if there is a preferred dress requirement. And don’t forget your smile, quite possibly the most important tool of the trade!

Enjoy!

~ Paula

Happy Valentine’s Day to all my sweet readers! Your comments left on my recent blog posts have warmed my heart despite the super-cold temperatures here in New York. Thank you for  coming by to see what I’m up to in my kitchen and in my dessert design studio. I love hearing from you all! Here are the results of my first ever shoot at Howard Rosenthal Photography‘s studio. (How lucky am I that hubby is an awesome photographer?)

My Romantic Valentine’s Dessert Table was all about the traditional flavors of chocolate, vanilla and marshmallow as well a few other favorites.

These wonderful pink, brown and white chocolate cake pops from Candy’s Cake Pops were color coded on the tips of the sticks. What a clever idea!

Mini Glazed Chocolate Doughnuts from Dough a Deer added serious cuteness and wonderful color to the table.

Chocolate Iced XO Cookies were inspired by Valentine’s cookies I saw over at Bake at 350. I’ll be blogging about her terrific recipe soon!

I love “just a bite” sized cupcakes! These are chocolate with a delicious buttercream frosting. The red sprinkles are actually shaped like sexy lips. Cupcake wrappers, toppers, dessert labels, papers here and elsewhere in this post are all from Lindi over at Love the Day. It was such a pleasure to work with her!

These are the Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Brownie Bites I blogged about recently – a sweet, collaborative effort between me and my teenage daughter. Read the post on it here.

Vanilla and Chocolate Layer Cake is so simple, old-fashioned and perfect for sweethearts!

I Heart U and Heart Shaped Peeps, M and M’s, Gumballs, Mini Hershey Bars, Candy Corn and Raspberry Cookies (at far end of table) round out the many sweets for this Valentine’s Dessert table.

Milk Shooters to wash all the yummy treats down are embellished with romantic Be Mine wrappers and paper straws with hearts.

Here’s a final look:

Whatever you do today, I hope you are surrounded by people who love and cherish you!

Have a sweet day,

Paula

Last week was my little one’s 7th birthday. (I know, he’s not so little anymore!)  He quickly declared Despicable Me to be this year’s party theme. In case you’re not familiar, Despicable Me is a story about an evil man named Gru who plans to steal the moon with the help of his army of mischievous yellow Minions. It is an entertaining, animated kids flick for which there are no licensed party goods! Yes, you read me right, I couldn’t find anything anywhere for a Despicable Me party!

What’s a dessert stylist and avid party planner to do? Create a theme from scratch! I had a little help of course, but here’s the dessert table I put together.

Let’s have a closer look, shall we?

These were the Despicably Delicious Cookies created by Lisa at The Cookie Jar. She got Gru and his Minions down perfectly! Each child went home with one as a party favor. In the background are the Despicable S’mores created by Sweet Lydia’s. These incredible bites reminded me of the Scooter Pies I ate religiously as a child. Oh, so sinfully yummy!

I decided my son should have his own army of Minions so I made these Vanilla Cake Pops. Aren’t they darling? They look too innocent to want to steal the moon!

If I had to choose, (and you really mustn’t make me) I’d say that the Chocolate Cupcakes filled with Vanilla Creme with the Despicable cupcake toppers and the outrageously delicious buttercream frosting in vibrant blue and yellow was my favorite part of the table. The kids couldn’t wait to get their hands on them! The graphics for the cupcake toppers, dessert labels and stickers (seen on the base of the Minions) were made by the wonderful gals at Anders Ruff.

The kids’ tables were set up with alternating bright blue and yellow plates and napkins and the party favor bags were in matching colors, each with an adorable Despicable sticker on them. I forgot to photograph these so I’ll just leave you with one last photo of the dessert table. Leave a comment so I know you dropped by. I’d love to hear from you!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my son became a bar mitzvah last month on Long Island. His celebration party afterwards was an unexpected debut for Just a Bite Desserts, my new ice cream, candy and dessert buffet design business. You can see the behind-the-scenes photos before the event here.

Although I couldn’t stage a photo shoot beforehand, my photographers from Visions Fine Photography captured several great photos of the desserts.

Custom Milk and Dark Chocolate Dipped Oreos

Above you can see the gorgeous graffiti design on the custom Chocolate Dipped Oreos. These were perfect for the urban, New York City themed party!

Dessert Buffet for Bar Mitzvah Celebration

The brown and white squares above are Handmade Artisan Marshmallows in Cocoa Swirl and Vanilla respectively. They are, quite simply, out-of-this-world! The Ice Cream Shake Shooters were a huge hit! One sip left you running to get seconds and thirds.

Custom Logo Butter Cookies

These scrumptious Gourmet Butter Cookies were decorated with the bar mitzvah boy’s initials, a logo that was used throughout the party.

Mini French Macarons

The bite-size French Macarons added some European flair to the buffet as did the assortment of pastries which included Napoleons, Profiteroles and Eclairs. Guests didn’t know which of the four flavors, Lemon, Raspberry, Chocolate Peanut Butter or Chocolate Ganache to try first! The delicious Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods and Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn added wonderfully sweet and salty flavors to the table.

One of my personal favorites on the table were the Mini Stuffed Cupcakes seen below which were available in seven flavors, including Red Velvet, Oreo, Chocolate, Vanilla and others. The cakes with the custom logo on top came in two flavors, Vanilla with Boston Cream filling and Vanilla with Tiramisu filling. We saved those for the family brunch the following day and were well worth the wait!

Mini Stuffed Cupcakes

What are your favorite desserts? Leave a comment and let me know!