Dessert Garnishes

Professional pastry chefs always keep certain guidelines in mind when they create a garnish to go with each dessert. A dessert plate is most satisfying when it contains at least three elements: something creamy, something crunchy and something "meaty" (that is, something you can really sink your teeth into). Think of your dessert as a composition. Make it a study in contrasts: warm versus cold, soft versus crisp, sweet versus tart, rich versus lean.

A slice of apple pie à la mode contains all of these elements: tender spiced fruit with a buttery crisp crust, served warm or room-temperature with frozen ice cream.

Some classic dessert garnishes:

Sauces (cold or warm): chocolate, vanilla custard (crème Anglaise), caramel

Fruit purées: raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, mango, kiwi, peach

Fresh fruit: (sliced or whole) raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, pomegranate seeds, mangoes, kiwi, peaches, star fruit, pineapple; caramelized banana and/or pineapple

Citrus: fresh or candied zest, fresh or candied rounds

Edible flowers: pansies, rose petals, marigolds, tulip petals, orchids, violets, nasturtiums, orange blossoms, snapdragons

Herbs: mint leaves, lavender sprigs, lemon thyme, rosemary

Powders: confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg

Ice cream: any flavor; if you make your own, try a sour cream or crème fraîche ice cream (substitute sour cream for half of the heavy cream) for a sweet-tart contrast.

Whipped cream: plain, sweetened, or enhanced with liqueur or flavored extracts. Try whipping half heavy cream, half crème fraîche with a little sugar for a tangy-sweet topping.

Chocolate: shavings, curls or other chocolate designs

Nuts: whole or chopped, plain or candied, toasted or raw (ground raw pistachios are a beautiful garnish); long shreds of fresh or toasted dried coconut

Cookies: any kind, but tuiles and butter cookies are the most versatile

Once you've decided what dessert to serve, think three-dimensionally. Use the whole plate as your canvas. Sauces, purées and fruit can be arranged all the way to the edge of the plate. The plate can be dusted with cocoa powder, citrus zest or chopped nuts (but remember, you have to serve the dessert. You have to be able to pick the plate up without destroying the composition). Use tall curls and ruffles of chocolate or long, thin cookies propped up next to or through the middle of the dessert for visual interest.

Fruit sauces can be made any time of the year, with fresh or frozen fruit. Simply let frozen fruit thaw and then mash it or puree it in the blender. For a really smooth sauce, pour it through a strainer to get out any seeds or pulp. Adjust the flavor if necessary by adding sugar and lemon juice. If you add sugar, cook the puree in a saucepan just long enough to dissolve the sugar. (One caveat: kiwi puree doesn't stand up well to cooking.)

Have a ball with purees and sauces by "painting" a plate with them. This is easiest when you put your sauce in a plastic squeeze bottle (available at any store that sells kitchen supplies) but it can also be done with a spoon. Create designs by using two sauces of contrasting colors, such as chocolate sauce and crème Anglaise, or raspberry and mango purées.

• Make a pool of sauce in one color, and then place small polka dots of the other sauce on top of the pool.
• Drag the tip of a toothpick through the middle of each polka dot to create a heart shape.
• Create stars by starting at the middle of each dot and dragging the toothpick outwards several times.

You can use this swirling technique to make all kinds of fun patterns and shapes.

All you need to create delicate chocolate curls is a block of chocolate and a vegetable peeler.

• Rub the heel of your hand over the surface of the chocolate to warm it up slightly (you can also zap the chocolate in the microwave for just a few seconds to make it slightly softer--but if the chocolate is too warm, it won't curl properly).
• Pull the peeler firmly along the side of the chocolate block. The bigger the piece of chocolate, the bigger your curls can be.
• Store them in a cool, dry place until you're ready to use them.
• Lift and arrange the curls using toothpicks so the heat from your hands won't melt them.

If you are comfortable tempering chocolate, you can make all kinds of elaborate designs by piping onto a sheet of parchment paper. You can make hearts, flowers, butterflies, curlicues, fans, letters--anything at all. Use a picture or drawing underneath the parchment as a template. Once the chocolate has hardened, lift the designs off the parchment and garnish your dessert.