Please help me garnish/decorate my cheesecake!

[Portia]

What about drizziling the top with melted chocolate and then white chocolate? You could place some chocolate coated espresso beans for a garnish.
~Portia

[aggie94]

For DH's work holiday party this Friday, I am bringing woodsl's Chocolate Amaretto Amaretti Cheesecake (which, if you haven't made, is fabulous!). Expectations for my dessert are already high among DH's co-workers. A couple of times, I've sent him to work with leftover cookies or muffins from my baking escapades - definitely nothing fancy. But when they saw that he had signed up to bring a dessert to the party, they've been asking him on a regular basis, "What is your wife making??"

So I had to pick something that would wow people. I think this cheesecake will do the trick, but I need some help garnishing/decorating it to make it LOOK beautiful. Any ideas? Chocolate curls seem the natural way to go, but they seem like they'd be hard - I'd have no idea how to make them. And I want to stay along the lines of the cheesecake flavors. Help!! :confused:

[SandyM]

I'm thinking slivered almonds might be appropriate. I've never made chocolate curls, but I've seen it done - it doesn't seem that difficult. I think alternating the curls with the slivered almonds would make a really nice presentation.

[msbeehavn]

What about alternating white chocolate curls with dark chocolate curls and putting in some almonds as well? I think you just use a potato peeler to shave the curls off of a chocolate bar??

[SusanT]

How about edible flowers? They would look very pretty on a chocolate cheesecake....

[HARRYET]

Another vote for the chocolate curls.

If you go the chocolate curl route, remember to freeze the chocolate prior to making the curls, and refreeze as your working with the chocolate, if it starts to soften/melt to much. Also a veggie peeler works great for curls.

Ann :)

[Jasmine-Rose]

Hi Aggie,

I have seen premade chocolate decorations in some stores. Some are shaped like leaves and others are just decorative curliques. If they're a brand you recognize it might be safe to go with those. Otherwise, how about using one of those templates for dusting cakes with powdered sugar? You could use cocoa or powdered espresso. If you don't want to cover the whole thing you could just do the edge by covering the center of the template with a paper circle. Maybe put whole or sliced almonds on the edges? I'm sure whatever you choose, it will be the hit of the party.

- E.

[wyopatti]

Why not go the fruit route? Put rasperberries all along the outside of the cheesecake and then put maybe kiwi and strawberries on the top in a nice pile.

[KelLeg]

I like the template idea. You might be able to cut a template in the shape of a snowflake? That would be kind of neat. I also think almonds are a natural.

[cookingmonkey]

You could always combine the chocolate/almond idea. Buy some of the sliced almonds, lightly toast them on a baking sheet, then drizzle them with some melted chocolate and let them dry. You get the best of both worlds!:) Anyway, just a thought, I'm sure they will love it no matter what it looks like!

jennifer

[aggie94]

Thanks, guys! I feel like such a loser - almonds were the obvious choice and I completely flaked. I like the idea of slivered almonds and/or chocolate curls. I'll do some experimenting with some chocolate and a vegetable peeler and have some extra almonds as a back-up in case it doesn't work out. :)

The dusting idea is a neat one too - I'll keep that in mind.

Thanks, everyone!