3 Easy + High Impact Desserts For A Party

Hey friends, today we are getting into the delicious world of party desserts! Now there are about 1.2 million types of desserts you can bring/make for a gathering (all of them yummy and totally worth it), but for this post I’m focusing on easy desserts that make a big impact! These are certainly not the only easy/high impact desserts out there, but these are some of the ones I’ve done and stand behind!

The easiest + high impact dessert, in my opinion, is a grocery store cake! Now I know what you’re thinking… why would I go with a store bought cake when I want to bring something unique/original/show stopping/etc. to my gathering? Well first of all, we as a gathering society need to get over the idea that store bought is not good enough to serve or bring to a gathering. That’s just ridiculous. Some people don’t have the time, money or energy to slave away in the kitchen making something from scratch! And that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t feel just as welcomed as the people who create something from their own kitchen. Now that I’ve gotten off my soapbox, the trick with making a grocery store cake a high impact dessert, is to get a PLAIN cake. I’m not necessarily talking about the flavor or filling, when I say plain cake I mean one that isn’t decorated. You can either pick up a non-decorated pre-made cake, choose a cake that has decorations that are easy to remove (like fruit) or order a plain one from the bakery. Think of it like a blank canvas… The grocery store provides the canvas but you’re the one who gets to paint all over it! The sky's the limit now and this is where the fun/high impactedness comes into play :) You can dress up a plain cake with flowers, sprinkles, fruit, candy, cookies, nuts, a fun saying, cute sign or topper, different color icings or drizzle a yummy sauce! You can get creative and decorate it with a pattern or just throw things on top. It’s amazing the difference even some plain ole sprinkles make on a plain cake!

Another easy dessert is fruit!  Yep, you read that right. Fruit can make for a lighter and more refreshing dessert all by itself, but if you really want to kick it up a notch pair it with a dessert dip, nutella or powdered sugar! You can have the fruit pre cut and pre-dipped or make it an interactive dessert spread. Go simple and just sprinkle some powdered sugar over strawberries or dip some orange slices in dark chocolate, freeze and serve when ready! There are about a thousand different dessert dips that you can whip up: snickerdoodle, cheesecake, brown sugar, orange creamsicle, butterfinger, etc. Or you can get pre-made cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, chocolate, peanut butter, caramel or even yogurt! Nutella is my go-to because you really can’t go wrong with nutella and fruit. Sometimes I cut up the fruit and drizzle nutella all over them and serve, other times I just pour the nutella in a fun bowl and people can dip on their own. The fancier the display, the higher the impact will be! But I promise, fruit + dessert dip/spread will always be a crowd pleaser.

Probably my favorite high impact dessert are biscuit donuts! These are actually quite simple to make, don’t require many ingredients or fancy pans, and are DELICIOUS. Truly after I learned how to make them I realized how dangerous it would be because now I will make these anywhere, anytime. There are lots of recipes for homemade donuts (and trust me they all look/sound so yummy) but I found this recipe a few years ago and it just changed the game for me. It only requires 4 ingredients (what?!) and even the least skilled cooks/bakers can handle these steps. Remember how good cinnamon toast tasted as a kid (or adult)?? Well put that on a biscuit and I’m SOLD! Depending on how many you need to make this could take a bit of thought beforehand as once you get going these things are made quick. And they are better fresh, though they do hold up after a few hours or overnight. But really, fresh is best with these (especially if you’re looking for high-impact). And as a bonus, you can make donut holes with these too! In fact, you could even just make a bunch of donut holes out of the biscuits and omit the donuts all together! Either way, this simple and inexpensive recipe will definitely leave your guests coming back for more!