Dazzle your guests with a stunning candied lemon rosebud accenting a luscious cheesecake. Wow your family with a delicate tomato rose topping off a platter of creamy fettuccine.
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Garnish Recipes
We've included some recipes that pair perfectly with garnishes. We've placed them on each page so you can click to the recipes that complement your new garnishing techniques.
Entice little ones with a plate trimmed with fun gelatin cutouts and colorful carrot flowers -- the list of eye-catching garnishes is endless.
In this article, we'll show you how to add excitement to any food with eleven sections of creative garnishes. With easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions and clear how-to photos, you'll soon progress from a basic radish fan to an impressive chocolate lead with ease.
Whether you're building a house or creating a garnish, you need the right tools to do the job well. While the techniques for garnishing are fairly easy, it is a lot of work with smaller items. Just as you wouldn't use a jackhammer when a simple hammer would do, you wouldn't want to use a stirring spoon when a melon ball is more applicable to the job. In this section, we'll talk about which tools you should keep on hand to garnish well.
Take lemons and make lemonade, or create beautiful decorations for your table. You can dress up anything edible -- from a simple glass of water to a glazed pork main entree. Not only is citrus colorful, it also smells nice and is easy to work with. In this section, we'll teach you how to create citrus knots, scored citrus slices, citrus loops, and candied citrus peels.
These garnishes are really creative. Transform a regular lemon or lime into a butterfly that will flitter along your dinner plate. Give the beautiful butterfly a flowery place to land by creating cherry flowers. Or, get even more creative with sugared flowers and fruit. There are always strawberry fans to cool off your shortcake or frosty beverages. Learn how to make these fun fruity garnishes in this section.
Chocolate is irresistible. What's not to love? It tastes great, tricks the brain into releasing chemicals that make you happy, and it's beautiful on the plate. Garnishing with chocolate takes a little bit of work, but it's well-worth the effort. Chocolate curls, cutouts, and chocolate-dipped fruits and nuts are only the beginning. We'll show you how to melt and pipe dark chocolate and white chocolate, as well as how to make white chocolate curls and cutouts.
Bell peppers are delicious vegetables. Many of the most bell peppers come in the stoplight colors of red, yellow, and green. When shopping for bell peppers, choose peppers that are evenly shaped and without blemishes to get the right results. In this section, we'll teach you how to make bell pepper rings, baskets, triangles, and cups.
Bugs Bunny was famous for eating carrots. Carrots have been proven to be good for your eyes. They can also improve what your eyes see, especially with these great carrot garnishes. Learn how to turn a regular root into a variety of popular flowers. You can also curl carrots and make carrot stars. You can even use a tiny bit of caviar in one of the garnishes. Find out which one in this section.
Cucumbers and zucchinis are versatile. Their deep green colors add a lot of panache to everyday meals. Keep their outer green peel on the strips you peel -- this line of color looks really good on the plate. Most cucumber and zucchini garnishes can be used interchangeably. Learn how to make cucumber and zucchini twists, ribbons, and flowers in this section.
Keep veggies in a bunch by tying them together. Garnishes aren't just fun to look at -- they're also practical. Vegetable ties are great for buffet meals so guests can easily pick up as many carrots as they want. In this section, we'll show you how to make different kinds of vegetable garnishes. The vegetables and techniques vary: from radish fans to julienne carrots and turnips, so you'll want to read it to know how to do a little of everything.
Most people go straight to the watermelon's juicy red interior and immediately discard the shell. The same is true of pineapple. It's pretty common to scoop out the tangy yellow fruit and toss the spiky shell. The garnishes in this section recycle the outer casings for both fruit, turning them into delightful baskets and boats. Learn how to make fruit basket garnishes in this section.
Dairy garnishes are fun and surprising. Yes, we've all been to nice hotel breakfasts that played host to butter pats carved into pretty shapes. We'll teach you how to make butter shapes in this section. You'll also learn some more unexpected uses for dairy. Most people eat hard cooked eggs, but we'll show you how to turn them into charming egg chicken garnishes. We'll also teach you how to pipe cream cheese in this section.
Bacon Garnishes Breakfast wouldn't be the great meal of the day without bacon. Bacon curls give you the power to dress up even the quickest breakfast side dish. With these easy step-by-step instructions, we'll show you how to transform blasé bacon slices into brilliant bacon garnishes.
You want to complement the flavor and style of food with delightful garnishes that add color and panache to any meal, but it's best if you have the right tools. We'll discuss tools for garnishing in the next section.
Food that tempts the eye is more likely to tempt the taste buds. When a meal is presented with panache, your guests are more likely to eat and enjoy it. Just as you rely on the equipment in your kitchen to help you turn out a good meal, you'll also need a few tools to create spectacular garnishes. This handy glossary lists the most common kitchen tools used in garnish making.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Shrimp with Peanuts
Open-Faced Reuben with Mustard-Caraway Hollandaises
Grilled Chili-Marinated Pork
Smoked Turkey Wraps
Paella
Tacos in Pasta Shells
Three Bean Chili
Apple cutter/corer
This wheel- shaped gadget is great for cutting vegetables, such as carrots, as well as apples.
Brushes
Standard pastry brushes work for most garnishing, but for precise or delicate chores, a child's small paintbrush is best.
Butter curler, butter paddles and candy molds
Each of these helps you shape butter. Use the curler to form delicate butter curls, the paddles for butter balls and the molds for special designs. Candy molds are also known as butter molds.
Citrus stripper
Use this tool to cut a thin strip of peel from citrus fruit or other fresh produce.
Decorating bag
Use these items for piping designs and other cake- decorating tasks. The decorating bag is also known as a parchment cone.
Decorating tips
The tips you'll use most often are writing tips, star tips, rose tips, and leaf tips. Start out by purchasing one of each type. Then add to your collection whenever you need an additional tip for a new garnish.
The jagged edges on this knife come in handy for many garnishing tasks.
Hand grater
A grater with at least one section for fine pieces and another section for larger shreds is the most practical.
Small cookie cutters
These are sold in most cookware shops. Choose the shapes you think you'll use most often. Small cookie cutters are also known as hors d'oeuvre cutters. Knives
Sharp knives are a must. The knives you'll use most often are a chef's knife for cutting large items, such as watermelons; a utility knife for medium-sized foods, such as pineapples or cantaloupes; and a paring knife for all-purpose cutting.
Melon baller
This handy tool comes in a variety of sizes. The one that is the most versatile is the 1-inch-diameter size.
Scissors
A small pair is ideal for snipping small items, such as green onion tops. Kitchen scissors or poultry shears are better for large, tough jobs.
Skewers and toothpicks
For garnishing, keep a supply of wooden toothpicks, as well as 6- and 10-inch wooden skewers, on hand. Occasionally you may need a metal skewer. Choose one about 8 inches long.
Vegetable peeler
The swivel- type of peeler works best. Just make sure it's sharp.
Wire strainer
This bowl-shaped tool made from wire mesh is great for sifting or sprinkling powdered sugar or cocoa over foods, as well as for draining foods. Wire strainers are also known as sieves.
Cues for Bright, Colorful Garnishes
Once cut, some foods discolor quickly, e.g. pears, apples, bananas, avocados, potatoes and eggplant. To slow the discoloration process down, brush the cut surfaces with lemon juice before wrapping and refrigerating.
To make garnishes last:
To maintain and heighten the color of fresh vegetables, blanch them before using them to make garnishes. Simply immerse the produce in boiling water for 1 minute, drain, and plunge into a large bowl filled with ice water or rinse quickly under very cold running water. Always dry the ingredients thoroughly before use.
To prevent drying out, keep garnishes away from air and heat. If possible, protect them with an airtight covering of plastic wrap.
It's always best to make garnishes just before serving, but some can be prepared ahead of time and assembled on the plate at the last minute.
Store garnishes like you would similar foods. If made with ingredients that are normally refrigerated, wrap in plastic wrap, or store in an airtight bag or container, and refrigerate.
If the ingredients are crispy or dried, or if they need to firm up, do not refrigerate. Store in a cool, dry place for several hours or overnight.
Some cut-up or carved vegetables can be prepared in advance and covered with ice water until you are ready to assemble the finished presentation. Be sure to drain and dry them off well before placing the garnishes on the plate.
Add garnishes to the food just before serving.
Learn how to make colorful citrus garnishes in the next section.
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Citrus Garnishes
Brightly colored fruit garnishes add a sense of freshness and fun to foods. They're so naturally beautiful it doesn't take much effort to make them look spectacular. Look for citrus fruits that are evenly shaped, blemish-free, and at the right stage of ripeness.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Sweet and Sour Pork
Lemony Cabbage Slaw with Curry
In general, the firmer the fruit, the easier it is to work with and the longer the finished garnish will stay fresh and attractive. Any kind of citrus works: use lemons, oranges, or limes to start garnishing.
Candied Citrus Peel
Tiny strips of candied citrus peel are the perfect topping for everything from espresso to cakes.
To candy citrus peel garnishes:
Wash fruit; dry thoroughly. Cut strips of peel from fruit with vegetable peeler.
Combine equal amounts of sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with wooden spoon. Boil 3 minutes. You will need about 1-1/2 cups each of granulated sugar and water for each piece of whole fruit.
Add additional sugar to a re-sealable plastic food storage bag. Add strips of peel; seal bag. Shake until strips are evenly coated with sugar. Remove strips from bag; place on waxed paper to dry thoroughly.
At your next dinner party, garnish the edge of each water glass with a citrus loop. This also works well on the edge of salads placed in beautiful bowls.
To make citrus loop garnishes:
Wash citrus fruit; dry thoroughly. Place fruit on cutting board; cut crosswise into thin slices with utility knife.
Carefully cut each half slice between peel and fruit with paring knife to loosen peel from fruit, cutting about three-fourths around the inside of the peel. (Fruit should remain attached to about one-fourth of the length of the peel.)
Pair scored citrus slices with fresh herbs and garnish on pork or fish dishes.
To score citrus slice garnishes:
Wash citrus fruit; dry thoroughly. Cut a shallow groove into the peel with citrus stripper or tip of grapefruit spoon, cutting lengthwise from stem end to other end.
These simple garnish techniques will tempt the taste buds. Use your creativity to create butterfly garnishes in the next section.
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Fans, Flowers, and Butterfly Garnishes
Maybe it's the joy of summer that inspires us in the kitchen. Color is blooming all around us, flowers look fresh, butterflies playfully dart all around. Despite their seasonal inspiration, you can use these garnishes all year long.
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Here is a recipe from our collection to use with garnishes:
Mini Strawberry Shortcakes
Strawberry Fans Make strawberry shortcake, one of America's all-time favorite desserts, extra-special by adding a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry fan.
To make strawberry fan garnishes:
Select a medium sized, uniformly shaped strawberry with hull attached. Wash and dry thoroughly.
Place the strawberry on cutting board. Cut four or five thin slices with a paring knife lengthwise through the strawberry, leaving slices attached just below the hull.
Spoon additional superfine sugar into sieve. Sprinkle a light, even coating of sugar over each flower. If any areas are not coated, repeat layers of egg white and sugar.
Without a doubt, fans and butterflies are beautiful garnishes. Another sweet garnish that most people can't turn down is the chocolate garnish. We'll learn how to make them in the next section.
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Chocolate Garnishes
There's nothing like a creatively placed swirl, drizzle, curl, or flourish of chocolate to elevate an everyday dessert to gourmet status. It's one of the easiest ways to add drama and an impressive finishing touch. Try these quick tricks with chocolate next time you want to step it up a notch.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Chocolate Cannoli
Double Chocolate Bombe
Black & White Bars
Chocolate Curls
Create a halo of chocolate curls on top of your favorite sweet treat. Or, top cups of coffee with dollops of whipped cream and chocolate curls. Make brownies extra special by frosting them with vanilla buttercream frosting. Then, top each one of the brownies with a chocolate curl.
To make chocolate curl garnishes:
Place square or bar of semisweet chocolate on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife.
Place shavings in measuring cup. Add shortening. Use 1 teaspoon of shortening for every 2 ounces of chocolate. Fill a saucepan one-quarter full (about 1 inch deep) with warm, not hot, water.
Place measuring cup in water to melt chocolate, stirring frequently with rubber spatula until smooth. Be careful not to get any water into chocolate.
Let stand in cool, dry place until chocolate is firm. Do not chill in refrigerator. When chocolate is just firm, use small straight-edge metal spatula to form curls. Holding spatula at a 45-degree angle, push spatula firmly along baking pan, under chocolate, so chocolate curls as it is pushed. If chocolate is too firm to curl, let stand a few minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate again if it becomes too soft.
For your child's next birthday party, place a chocolate cutout alongside each serving of cake. Have the child help you by choosing the cookie cutter shapes he or she likes best.
To make chocolate cutout garnishes:
Place square or bar of semisweet chocolate on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife, as pictured above.
Place shavings in measuring cup. Add shortening. Use 1 teaspoon of shortening for every 2 ounces of chocolate. Fill a saucepan one-quarter full (about 1 inch deep) with warm, not hot, water.
Place measuring cup in water to melt chocolate, stirring frequently with rubber spatula until smooth, as pictured above. Be careful not to get any water into chocolate.
Line inside of baking sheet with waxed paper. Pour melted chocolate into prepared baking sheet; quickly spread chocolate into a thin layer (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick) with metal spatula.
For ease in cutting chocolate, slightly warm cookie cutters with hands before cutting out shapes.
Chocolate-Dipped Fruits & Nuts
For the perfect ending to a rich meal, serve cups of steaming hot coffee. Garnish each saucer with a chocolate-dipped fruit or nut.
To make chocolate-dipped fruit and nut garnishes:
Place square or bar of semisweet chocolate on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife, as pictured above.
Place shavings in measuring cup. As shown above, fill a saucepan one-quarter full (about 1 inch deep) with warm, not hot, water. Place measuring cup in water to melt chocolate, stirring frequently with rubber spatula until smooth. Be careful not to get any water into chocolate. Remove measuring cup from saucepan.
If using fresh fruit, wash and dry well. Dip fruits and nuts, one at a time, into melted chocolate, until chocolate coating comes about two-thirds of the way up the side. Allow excess chocolate to drip off.
For a quick finish to cream puffs or éclairs, drizzle each pastry with chocolate before topping with toasted sliced almonds or pecan pieces.
To melt and pipe chocolate drizzle garnishes:
Place squares or bars of unsweetened, semisweet, or milk chocolate on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife, as pictured above.
Place shavings in measuring cup. Fill a saucepan one-quarter full (about 1 inch deep) with warm, not hot, water. Place measuring cup in water to melt chocolate, stirring frequently with rubber spatula until smooth, as pictured above. Be careful not to get any water into chocolate. Remove measuring cup from saucepan. Let chocolate cool slightly.
Fill plastic bag about half full with melted chocolate. Seal bag securely.
For a dazzling display, bend chocolate into the shapes that you desire.
To make chocolate shape garnishes:
Place squares or bars of unsweetened, semisweet, or milk chocolate on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife, as pictured above.
Place shavings in measuring cup. Fill a saucepan one-quarter full (about 1 inch deep) with warm, not hot, water. Place measuring cup in water to melt chocolate, stirring frequently with rubber spatula until smooth, as pictured above. Be careful not to get any water into chocolate. Remove measuring cup from saucepan. Let chocolate cool slightly.
Fill plastic bag about half full with melted chocolate, as pictured above. Seal bag securely.
Cut off very tiny corner of bag with scissors, as pictured above.
Gently squeeze bag and pipe chocolate in a steady flow onto sheet of waxed paper, making a variety of small shapes. Stop squeezing and then lift bag at end of each shape. Create flowers, hearts, Christmas trees, lattice shapes or any lacy pattern.
Let stand in cool, dry place until chocolate is firm. Do not chill in refrigerator. When chocolate is firm, gently peel shapes off waxed paper. Store shapes in cool, dry place until ready to use.
Decorate cannolis and other delicious desserts with these curls.
To make white chocolate curl garnishes:
Place white chocolate baking bar on cutting board; shave it into small pieces with paring knife.
Place white chocolate shavings and shortening in measuring cup. Use 1 teaspoon of shortening for every 2 ounces of chocolate.
Microwave on high (100% power) about 1-1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring after every 30 seconds of cooking.
Pour melted white chocolate onto back of baking pan. Quickly spread chocolate into a very thin layer (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick) with metal spatula. Refrigerate white chocolate about 10 minutes or until firm, but still pliable.
Use small straight-edged metal spatula to form curls. Holding spatula at a 45-degree angle, push spatula firmly along baking pan, under chocolate, so chocolate curls as it is pushed. If chocolate is too firm to curl. Let stand a few minutes at room temperature. Refrigerate again if it becomes too soft.
Line cookie sheet or baking pan with waxed paper. Pour melted white chocolate onto waxed paper; quickly spread chocolate into a thin layer (1/8 to 1/4 inch thick) with rubber spatula.
Immediately lift cutouts carefully from waxed paper with metal spatula or knife. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Garnish as desired.
Sweet garnishes are great for desserts. Vegetable garnishes are perfect for the main course. Learn how to make bell pepper garnishes in the next section.
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Bell Pepper Garnishes
Whenever possible, it's a good idea to make garnishes before you get involved in the final tasks of meal preparation. Especially when you're entertaining, you don't have much time for details at the last minute.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Christmas Confetti Dip
Cheddar Cheese Strata
Broiled Turkey Burgers
Some garnishes, however, don't fare so well if they are made too far in advance. But that's not the case with many creative and colorful vegetable garnishes. Most can be made as much as a day ahead, then placed in airtight containers or wrapped in clear plastic wrap and refrigerated until the next day.
Look for vegetables that are evenly shaped, blemish-free, and at the right stage of ripeness to get the best results. In general, the firmer the vegetable, the easier it is to work with and the longer the finished garnish will stay fresh and attractive.
Bell Pepper Rings
Use bell pepper rings to garnish a burger.
To make bell pepper ring garnishes:
Make circular cut with paring knife around top of pepper.
Use a pepper container in place of a bowl when serving creamy dips or guacamole. Or, use a bell pepper cup to hold celery and carrot sticks as an edible centerpiece.
To make bell pepper cup garnishes:
Place bell pepper on cutting board. Cut about 1/2 inch around stem with paring knife; discard stem.
Another crunchy vegetable is the carrot. We'll teach you how to garnish with everyone's favorite orange vegetable in the next section.
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Carrot Garnishes
Colorful carrots, crunchy peppers, and rotund radishes are just a few of the versatile vegetables that lend themselves to the art of food presentation. Here are instructions for a garden's worth of garnishes that will make your reputation as a creative cook really grow. We'll talk about the different carrot garnishes.
Carrot Curls
Perk up a bowl of rice pilaf by trimming it with several carrot curls. Turn an ordinary club sandwich into a company combo by spearing it with a small wooden skewer laced with a carrot curl.
One of the best ways to add color to broth-based soups is to float a carrot curl in each serving.
To make carrot curl garnishes:
Peel carrot with vegetable peeler; place on cutting board. Cut off ends with paring knife; discard tops.
Coax the children into eating their carrots by cutting the carrots into flowers. You can even make their favorite flower, such as black-eyed Susans or daisies.
To make carrot black-eyed Susan flower garnishes:
Peel carrot with vegetable peeler; place on cutting board. Cut off ends with paring knife; discard ends. Cut carrot in half crosswise.
Sprinkle chopped capers or caviar onto center of each carrot flower. Use chives or thin strips of green onion tops for stems and cilantro or parsley sprigs for leaves.
Peel carrot with vegetable peeler; place on cutting board. Cut off ends with paring knife; discard ends, as pictured above. Cut carrot into 1/2-inch-long pieces.
For each flower, set one carrot piece upright on board. Place the apple cutter/corer directly over the center of the carrot piece. Press down firmly and evenly, stopping about 1/2 inch from bottom.
Create colorful canapes by spreading cracker or party rye bread slices with your favorite cheese spread. Top with carrot stars.
To make carrot star garnishes:
Peel carrot with vegetable peeler; place on cutting board. Cut the carrot with a paring knife at the spot where carrot begins to have a diameter of less than 1/2 inch. Discard thin end. Cut off stem end of carrot and discard.
Stand carrot on wide flat end. Cut a thin lengthwise slice from one side of carrot piece.
Cut a groove in center of each flat side using citrus stripper or tip of vegetable peeler. Cut carrot crosswise into thin slices with paring knife to form stars.
Similar to carrots, cucumbers are another favorite vegetables for salad. Learn how to make cucumber and zucchini garnishes in the next section.
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Cucumber and Zucchini Garnishes
Spice up everything from plain tomatoes to seafood bisque by using cucumber garnishes. Cucumbers make great garnishes.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Baked Fish with Thai Pesto
Curried Walnut Grain Burgers
Molded Crab Mousse
Fish Rolls with Crab Sauce
There is a lot of cutting involved, but cucumbers hold up well and are easy to manipulate. Zucchinis can be used interchangeably in many of the cucumber garnishes.
Cucumber Twists
Brighten a Thai dish using these easy garnishes. You can also twist a slice of cucumber and slip it onto a platter or pan-fried pork chops.
One popular method of using this type of garnish is to use it as the centerpiece of a platter. Surround with salami or ham, cheese cubes, hard-cooked egg wedges and olives or peppers.
To make cucumber twist garnishes:
Place a small cucumber on cutting board. Cut off ends of cucumber with utility knife; discard ends. Diagonally cut cucumber into thin slices.
Variation: Substitute lemon, lime, or orange slices for diagonally cut cucumber slices; continue as directed.
Cucumber Ribbons
Even an ordinary dish can become company fare if you dress it up by spiraling a few cucumber ribbons the serving plate.
To make cucumber ribbon garnishes:
Place cucumber on cutting board. Cut off ends with paring knife; discard ends. Cut thin lengthwise strips from cucumber with vegetable peeler, making sure there is a line of green peel on both sides of each strip. Continue cutting strips until you reach seeds.
Cut thin lengthwise slices from zucchini with vegetable peeler, making sure there is green peel on both side of each strip. Continue cutting slices until you reach seeds.
Variation: Substitute yellow summer squash for zucchini. Continue as directed.
There's a whole salad of vegetables left for garnishes. Learn about vegetable garnishes in the next section.
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Vegetable Garnishes
Nothing beats a pretty arrangement of fresh garden vegetables. We've already shown you how common salad vegetables can be used as garnishes.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Chicken Thighs with Peas
Tuna with Peppercorns on a Bed of Greens
We have some great ideas for some of your other vegetables, from the green ones to the ones that come in bunches.
We'll show you what to do with onions. We can chat about celery garnishes. If you're not a fan of radishes, after you learn how to use them for garnishing, you might agree that they're as good as roses. And, if you're still interested in vegetables, learn how to prepare fruits and vegetables with our easy step-by-step instructions.
Green Onion Curls
No Asian meal is complete without a heaping bowl of rice. Dress ip the bowl with a delicate green onion curl.
To make green onion curl garnishes:
Place green onion on cutting board. Cut off roots with paring knife; discard roots.
Cut onion crosswise into one 3-inch piece, leaving about 1-1/2 inches of both the white onion and green top portions.
If desired, cut a thin lengthwise slice from carrot to prevent carrot from rolling as you make additional cuts; discard slice. Place the carrot, cut side down, on cutting board. Cut each piece lengthwise 1/4-inch-thick slices.
Carefully add julienne sticks to boiling water in large saucepan. Simmer 1 minute or until crisp-tender; drain well. Add carrot sticks to ice water to cool thoroughly. Remove; drain well.
Variation: Substitute fresh whole green beans for julienne carrot sticks. Prepare beans as directed in step 8 for carrots. Tie with green onion ties as directed.
We have all these vegetable garnishes, but no place to put them. We'll solve that problem in the next section as we cover fruit basket garnishes.
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Fruit Basket Garnishes
Fruits like watermelons and pineapples are delicious to taste, but awkward to carry. They're hard to open, but the fruit inside is always worth the effort.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Layered White Bean and Tuna Dip
Shrimp with Peanuts
Pineapple Crab Salad
Chinese Chicken Salad
We have some ideas to help you use the entire watermelon or pineapple. Fruit basket garnishes not only look great and add to the atmosphere, but they also can hold a lot of fruit or salad, as well.
Watermelon Bowl
A watermelon bowl filled with chicken salad makes an eye-catching centerpiece for an elegant backyard buffet.
To make a watermelon bowl garnish:
Place watermelon on its side on cutting board. Cut a thin piece off bottom of melon with chef's knife to create flat surface.
To scallop edge of watermelon bowl, place open end of drinking glass against melon so top edge of glass is aligned with top edge of bowl. Draw a pencil line around glass edge to form scallop shape. Repeat around entire edge of watermelon.
Line a watermelon basket with plastic wrap: use to hold muffins or rolls.
To make a watermelon basket garnish:
Place watermelon on its side on cutting board. Cut a thin piece off bottom of melon with chef's knife to create flat surface. Stand watermelon on the flat surface.
To make basket handle, start slightly off center of middle of melon and draw a pencil line crosswise about one-half of the way down side of watermelon. Draw another line parallel to first to form strip about 2 inches wide.
On one side of handle, cut along pencil line for top of basket, being sure to insert knife into watermelon pulp as far as possible. Carefully remove watermelon as piece is loosened.
Similar to pineapple boats, dairy garnishes such as egg chickens, are charming and fun. We'll show you how to make them in the next section.
Tip!
Scallop top edge of basket, if desired. Place open end of drinking glass against melon so top edge of glass is aligned with top edge of basket. Draw a pencil line around glass edge to form scallop shape. Repeat around entire watermelon. Carefully cut along pencil lines with utility knife to form scalloped edge.
Dairy Garnishes
Dairy garnishes encompass a few different kinds of techniques and ingredients. In this section, we'll talk about how to make butter shapes, how to make egg chickens, and how to pipe cream cheese.
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Here are some recipes from our collection to use with garnishes:
Josephine's Tea Cakes
Mini Neapolitan Ice Cream Cakes
Butter Shapes
Top stacks of piping hot pancakes with two or three butter curls.
To make butter shape garnishes:
Ingredients: Bowl of hot water Sticks of butter or margarine, chilled Bowl of ice water
Equipment: Butter curler (for butter curls) Butter paddles (for butter balls) Cutting board Paring knife Small bowl Metal teaspoon Waxed paper
For butter curls, place butter curler in hot water. Starting at far end of 1 butter stick, pull curler firmly across the top of the butter. Place finished curl in ice water. Repeat for desired amount of curls, dipping curler into hot water before starting each curl.
For molded butter, allow one butter stick to stand at room temperature. Place candy mold in ice water until cold. Press butter firmly and evenly into mold.
Gently remove molded butter from candy mold using tip of paring knife.
Decorate a platter of baked ham with a family of egg chickens.
To make hard cooked egg chicken garnishes:
Ingredients: red or yellow bell pepper ripe olive slice hard-cooked egg, shell removed Equipment: Cutting board Paring knife
Place bell pepper on cutting board. Cut lengthwise in half with paring knife. Remove stem, membrane and seeds; discard. Cut one 2 x 1 ½ inch rectangle from each pepper half.
Cut remaining pepper rectangle in half lengthwise. For chicken's comb, cut zigzag edge along 1 long side of 1 rectangle half. If desired, trim comb to make proportional to egg.
Cut a horizontal slit in wide end of egg. Insert tail, peel side up, into slit. Cut a lengthwise slit in top of narrow end of egg; insert chicken's comb into slit.
Position sealed end of bag in your writing hand. Position fingers near opening of bag; place other hand under bag.
For squiggles and lines, hold plastic bag at 45 degree angle about 1/4 inch from surface of food. While gently squeezing bag, guide bag to create desired design. At end of each squiggle or line, stop squeezing bag and lift away from food. Trim with fresh dill weed, if desired.
For puffs and dollops, hold plastic bag at a 90 degree angle. Position opening just above food and gently squeeze, lifting bag slightly while squeezing. When puff or dollop is desired size, stop squeezing and lift up bag. Trim with fresh dill, if desired.
Place skewers, 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart, on unheated rack of broiler pan. Position under preheated broiler so rack is apart 5 inches from heat source. Broil 4 o 6 minutes or until bacon is crisp, turning every 2 minutes. Cool. Carefully remove curls from skewers with fork. Drain on paper towels; cool completely.
Everything is beautiful, as goes the old saying. With the different garnishes you now know, you can turn any food presentation from ordinary to awesome.
