Make hosting a breeze with our easy dinner party dessert recipes (2024)

FAQs

How to host a dessert party? ›

Try to serve at least four or five unique dishes, and keep in mind that you can bake some items ahead and freeze them. Also consider what beverages you plan to serve with your desserts. Children may prefer milk, juice or soda, while adults might enjoy elegant glasses of champagne, wine or demitasse cups of espresso.

Salads and sides. Often, the job of the host is to create a large centrepiece, so to take the pressure off, it's good to bring side dishes, allowing the cook time to concentrate on the main act. Depending on the main dish, versatile sides like rice, pasta salad and breads all work well as they can be eaten cold.

​So how many desserts do you really need? If you are offering a full size dessert like a cupcake or a full size brownie, count on 1-2 per guest. With smaller desserts like cookies, macarons, bite size brownies, or mini tarts you can count on each guest taking 3 items from the various options.

Create place cards for each dessert so guests know what they are eating — especially if anyone has allergies to specific ingredients. For dessert presentation, keep the guests' eyes moving. Consider serving platters with different heights and textures to make a visually pleasing table.

Then again, you can't go wrong with party food favorites like pinwheel recipes, pigs in a blanket, party dips, and deviled eggs—they make a welcome addition to any potluck spread. Just serve them with one of our tasty co*cktails, and these finger food ideas are guaranteed to win over any crowd.

What to bring when they say don't bring anything? ›

A floral delivery, homemade snack, an addition to their beverage collection, a present for another treasured family member or any memento with meaning will all leave a lovely impression. Then after the event, send a handwritten thank-you note.

The proper way to eat most desserts is with a spoon and fork. The following are some tips: Slide the fork with your left hand and the spoon with the right hand to the side of the dessert plate ( the fork to the left of the plate, and the spoon to the right of the plate.

You'll want to make sure you have a beautiful display, but, more importantly, you want to make sure you have enough for your guests to eat! The general rule of thumb is to calculate 3 mini desserts per person. So, if your guest count is 50 people, plan to order 150 mini desserts.

We recommend 2-4 items per guest, but don't worry, we'll help make sure you have enough servings to go around! To create your own estimate, please look through all the options below. Then, choose up to the maximum quantity of items/flavors based on your guest count.

Step 1: Choose Your Dessert Buffet Menu

Even without a cake, there is a seemingly unlimited number of desserts to serve your guests. Your dessert buffet menu should emphasize easy-to-grab items. Bite-sized options like cupcakes, cookies, cake pops, macaroons and truffles are all easy to display.