How to Put the Finishing Touches to a Cheesecake
Whenever you decide to add a luscious cheesecake as your dessert, make sure its appearance on the plate is as elegant as the as the sweet morsel, itself. A meal, particularly at the finish, should stimulate the visual sense too. These are some thought, although you may add your own personal creativity.
New York Style Cheesecake: This is what most people would think of as the basic, plain or “unflavored” cheesecake. Frankly, it is anything but unflavored! However, its flavor will adapt well to nearly all additions. Well, maybe not broccoli! I suggest that you should consider complimenting the rich flavor of this versatile cake by placing a healthy amount of hot caramel topping around the plate.
Strawberry Cheesecake: Place a litttle whipped cream atop the cake. In the center of the cream, place the largest, reddest strawberry you can find. Be sure to let the leaves remain on the berry.
Gourmet Turtle Cheesecake: This cheesecake has a variety of flavors incorporated, so it’s best not to try to introduce a new one. Instead, place a few petals from small blooms around the platter to add to the presentation. Yellow petals particularly enhance the color of the dessert.
Pumpkin Cheesecake, a holiday season favorite, is even smoother than the more traditional pumpkin pie. Cut a festive hole in some paper–tree shaped or a five pointed star. Center the paper over the top of the slice. In the hole, gently shake cinnamon.
Sugar Free Cheesecakes–no sugar added: No matter what the flavor of the cheesecake, a mint sprig on top of the widest part of the cake, will dress it up wonderfully without adding any additional, unwanted sugar.
The visual appearance of the plate impacts the presentation as much as what you place on it. Of course, your everyday dishes will do the job. But the added storage space in modern homes permit many of us to keep specialty plates. People have unique salsa and chip servers, as opposed to the ubiquitous bowls. Why not choose plates that you use only for the special dessert times?
There are plenty of alternatives ranging from a matched set of plain plates to purposely mismatched art noveau that can be enjoyable to both locate and collect. Another option to think about is to present your dessert on planks made of a well grained hardwood. Wood can actually be sanitized very well, although, if that worries you, simply place a doily under the dessert itself for simpler cleaning. A friend of mine collected old license plates, sanitized them, and sometimes serves either appetizers or dessert on the well travelled plates. It brings an unusual and festive ambience to any occasion!
Cheesecakes are a terrific–and somewhat expensive–addition to an exquisite meal or a casual barbeque. Dedicate a bit of time to accentuate the smooth texture of this marvelous dessert with your signature additions.
