dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

DH came home one day last week & said we're going over to a resident's house for dinner Thursday to meet the guy & his wife, and would I make a dessert to bring. So I planned on making a creamy lemon dessert with strawberry garnish, which DH loves.

Then today he said it was a PARTY, not a dinner, and there would be a lot of people there. I asked how many, and he said, "I have no way of knowing... 50 maybe." I have a feeling it will be closer to 20, and I don't plan to bring dessert for more than 1-2 dozen people - especially since DH really has no idea who all will be there, and they'll surely be bringing food, too.

Do you have any ideas for a dessert that has at least a tiny bit of a wow factor, without sending me all over a new city looking for special ingredients? I think the lemon dessert would be too difficult to manage in a bigger, mingling group. :huh: I even thought about lemon squares... I think they'd get eaten, but might be a little boring.

ETA: I'm not an accomplished cook, so no super-fancy cream-filled cakes with edible flowers cascading down the sides.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

Brownies are always well-received and you could cut them into smaller servings.

[Michele]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

mmm...brownies! especially sprinkled with powdered sugar...mmm.....


for some wow factor...they make those mini pie shells...in the freezer section i think.....could you put like a tbsp of the lemon stuff in that with a strawberry half on top? it would be more work than brownies....but not as run-of-the-mill ya know?


but I love brownies....and don't really know anyone who doesn't!

[mommax3]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

My first thought was brownies, too.

Sally

[Vanquisher]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

You could easily do mini cheesecakes. I have an easy recipe for them. They are well-received, not too hard, and have a little wow factor.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

Yum! I like the mini pie/cheesecake ideas.

The lemon dessert usually has a graham cracker crust, but there's no reason I couldn't put it in mini shells. That would make DH pretty happy, too, since he still thinks I should just make a big vat of it & let people slop out spoonfuls.

I'd love to have the other recipes still. If it travels ok, I might make the toffee pecan one for going to see DH's (HUGE) family in August.

[Deebs]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

Depending on how much time you have, maybe an assortment tray. Some brownies (maybe blond and chocolate), lemon bars, key lime bars, maybe cookies. We just did a baptism with home-made cake, cheesecake, and a tray like I mentioned (what can I say ,I love dessert), and the tray was gone within about 30 minutes. I cut everything a little smaller than usual so that people would feel like they could take more than one without being stuffed.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

OK - so how about this:

small squares of brownies, lemon bars, and the pecan-toffee bars (depending how complicated the recipe is), with something decorative around the edge of the tray (like chocolate dipped strawberries, toasted pecans, or lemon slices/peel?)

None of those are difficult or time-consuming to make, but hopefully the tray will look nice.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

More work than I'd put in w/a new move, twins, and pregnant. I'd go to Costco and pick up a sampler tray or something. But if you've got it in you, it sounds lovely.

[Vanquisher]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

More work than I'd put in w/a new move, twins, and pregnant. I'd go to Costco and pick up a sampler tray or something. But if you've got it in you, it sounds lovely.

Agreed. You could get some bakalva and cookies or petit fours and all sorts of things this way.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

More work than I'd put in w/a new move, twins, and pregnant. I'd go to Costco and pick up a sampler tray or something. But if you've got it in you, it sounds lovely.

Agreed. You could get some bakalva and cookies or petit fours and all sorts of things this way.

mmm...baklava...now I am totallly craving that.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

Nonsense! Overkill is my MO! DH will thank you for talking me down.

I'll do the brownies... but just add some chocolate covered strawberries.

[Momo]

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

More work than I'd put in w/a new move, twins, and pregnant. I'd go to Costco and pick up a sampler tray or something. But if you've got it in you, it sounds lovely.

Agreed. You could get some bakalva and cookies or petit fours and all sorts of things this way.

mmm...baklava...now I am totallly craving that.

I used to make this all the time w/a girlfriend, at her restraunt after hours...sooo easy! You can used crushed cashews, pastachios, or the more traditional walnuts. I often would use some rose water or orange blossom water when I would make my simple syrup ... it gave it a bit more of an exotic flair!
Me thinks I need to go get some phylo dough & nuts!!

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

I'll be right over.

Re: dessert ideas? finger food for fifty

I used to make this all the time w/a girlfriend, at her restraunt after hours...sooo easy! You can used crushed cashews, pastachios, or the more traditional walnuts. I often would use some rose water or orange blossom water when I would make my simple syrup ... it gave it a bit more of an exotic flair!
Me thinks I need to go get some phylo dough & nuts!!

Yum! I found a baklava recipe in my Joy of Cooking book. I won't try it this time b/c I'm not familiar with working with phylo dough, but I might pick up the ingredients while I'm out today and experiment for DH.

Another thing I want to try sometime is truffle-making. I thought I'd get this book by Sherry Yard: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... R&v=glance
It's basically a primer on all kinds of dessert techniques, with intuitive variation ideas at the end of each section. My little sister is the type to do very ornate desserts, and even I'm not, I'd love to learn.

Too many ideas... I'd better get offline and get crackin.