When Disaster Hits Your Dessert

Has it ever happened to you?  You know, you trip over the dog and drop the cake on the floor on your way to the dining room?  The pudding didn’t firm up in the refrigerator like the recipe said it would?  You realize too late that you forgot to turn the oven on?  When having a dinner party,  I ALWAYS make sure I have an alternative dessert…just in case someone doesn’t care for what I have made OR my dessert fails (for example, burns, falls on the floor, or whatever!).  It does happen!  desserttable-1024x662-1.jpg (1)If you have a big dessert table like I did for this cocktail party, you won’t have to worry if you ruin one of the desserts, there is always something else for guests to eat.  This isn’t true for a dinner party, though!  Everyone will have finished their delicious meal and is anticipating the dessert course…and it doesn’t come.  Individual-pavlovas-1024x680 (1)Perhaps you made these pretty pavlovas only to discover you put the cream in too early and they have turned into a soggy mess.  You can’t serve those, so what are you to do?  Open up that freezer and get out that ice cream or sherbet that you made sure you stocked ahead of time!

Strawberry ice cream.

Dish up some wonderful ice cream and serve it up in some pretty little dishes and no one will be the wiser that the cake is sitting on the kitchen floor!

Yummy! See how a cookie makes it more special?

Add a fancy cookie or biscotti and you have upped your game again!  A slice of fruit?  A mint leaf from the pot on your windowsill?  See how easy that was!

A garnish makes a difference!
Or…you can always just plan to serve ice cream in the first place!  I have a fun video coming soon that talks about and shows some great ideas if something disastrous happens to your dessert.  The most important thing to keep in mind when that disaster hits…just relax, laugh it off and your guests will too!
I will be sharing this at the following link parties:  Flaunt it Friday  | Dishing It and Digging It | The Scoop | Show and Share | Bernideen’s | Make it Pretty Monday


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41 Comments

  1. I just had Facebook remind me yesterday of the great birthday cake disaster of 2013. It was my son’s 3rd birthday and my mom tripped over her own shoes while taking the cake to the dining room and it landed upside down on the floor. It was one hour til party time. I had no choice but to run down to the grocery and buy a cake. Luckily the decorator was there and she was able to quickly decorate it for me.

  2. That is one beautiful table! I must confess that I always have a handful of desserts because I looove desserts, so don’t have to worry about a disaster on that front. BUT, it’s a brilliant idea!

  3. The presentation is exquisite. I love having pastries for dessert, but Ice cream is the perfect combination, add some fruit and yum!

  4. Ice cream is always perfect. You really can’t go wrong, unless you get a dairy free crowd. Then cobbler will work!

  5. It hasn’t exactly happened to me before but it’s always nice to have a back-up plan, especially during parties since a lot can go wrong. I love the idea of having an extra dessert, after all, we can never have enough sweets!

  6. I usually prepare simple desserts whenever I throw up a party to avoid disaster. On the other hand, this is a great tip for future events. thanks for sharing.

  7. Ice cream is always a good back up. Most of the time I have too many desserts on hand so if some disaster befalls one of them there’s lots of back up. Looking forward to the video!

  8. Oh wow, this spread looks delicious and the ice cream looks so refreshing. I need to find friends who have dessert bars at their dinner party. lol

  9. I think ice cream is always a great idea. You can make it nice with those beautiful dishes too. I love how you have everything displayed.

  10. We picked my mother in law up from the airport once, she was in town to visit. We had a cake on the table, in a covered (but not sealed) dish. When we got home, the dish was on the floor and the plate completely clean. No cake to be found anywhere. The dog had gotten up on the table and gotten it down. So crazy! That dog had such good manners, but just a like a kid I guess… when mama’s away… oy!

  11. Having a backup dessert is second nature to me! I have always been clumsy so I learned this lesson long ago!

  12. So true! Reminds me of the scene from Harry Potter when Dobby destroyed Aunt Petunia’s fancy dessert. She should have had ice cream waiting, lol. Almost everyone loves ice cream.

  13. Love your great ideas. It’s always great to have a backup plan. With three children, I know from experience!!! Your pictures are beautiful and the desserts look delicious!!!

  14. This is a good tip for hosting. I have found myslef in that place a few times and sure was glad for ice cream or a quick mix brownie. The table is fabulous! Hope your 4th clelebration was fun! Linda from visiting Make It Pretty.

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