Dessert Boards

Dessert Boards is an exuberantly well curated ode to desserts with recipes by Kellie Hemmerly. Released 2nd Nov 2021 by Quarto on their Harvard Common Press imprint, it's 144 pages and is available in paperback format.

This is a well presented and easy to follow book full of good tips and tricks for presenting tasty food and creating a convivial atmosphere with platters and boards full of sweets. I like that the author has a very friendly upbeat style of writing and the food is beautiful.

The introduction covers the basics of building a board including the board itself (not necessarily wooden), bowls, serving utensils, and food considerations (including transportation logistics). The boards themselves are arranged thematically: early day (coffee, breakfast, etc), holidays, international, family gatherings, celebrations, and anytime. The boards contain both homemade treats (recipes in the back of the book) and store-bought additions such as fruit, trail mix, granola bars, donuts (no recipe included), croissants (ditto), and jams/jellies. The following section of the book contains the recipes used in the boards. Recipe ingredients are listed in a bullet-style sidebar. Measurements are in American standard with most metric measures in parentheses (yay!) followed by step by step instructions. Boards using the recipes are listed in the header. The book doesn't include nutritional information. The recipes are pictured with the finished boards and the pictures are beautifully clear and colorful. Many of the recipes do use pre-packaged ingredients and condiments for convenience.

Five stars. The dishes and boards here aren't super *fancy* but they really *feel* special because of the presentation. I liked everything about this book, from the presentations, the clearly written recipes, and the beautiful photography and food styling. This is a very popular instagram/pinterest trend and this book contained a lot of time-saving shortcuts and suggestions. Perfect for holiday entertaining.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

OMG my mouth was watering while I looked through this book. One word sums it up.... Yummy.

This book turns those boring cheese boards into something quite sensational.
I'll admit I have not tried any yet but with christmas coming I see a chance in my future.
She covers everything from the actual boards to the utensils needed.

She covers everything from kids to adults.
The cookie board looks awesome. And she seems to have covered most of those special occasions.

Give it a go and become more creative at parties and gatherings.

Enjoy!

A simple yet impressive display of desserts on boards/trays for everyday and special occasions. There are a few sweet, delicious recipes at the end. This is a very fun book to browse for great ideas.

So many cute and fun ideas for sweet boards! Great for themed parties, holidays, and special occasions! I love that homemade treat recipes are included in the boards along with store bought treats. Can’t wait to utilize these ideas!

YUM!!! Wonderful ideas for all kinds of celebrations. Each board is beautifully presented and photographed to inspire lovely, luscious dessert boards that will truly wow anyone lucky enough to get invited to that party!

Most of the boards revolve around things that can be store-bought, but there is a nice section of recipes for some homemade treats as well. This would be a great gift for anyone with a sweet tooth who loves entertaining!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

Dessert Boards: 50 Beautifully Sweet Platters and Boards for Family, Friends, Holidays, and Any Occasion is one of the latest books on the trendy “boards” craze that is growing daily. Although caterers and professional cooks have been presenting foods on boards for years, this new cookbook shows how to make these at home. Blogger and cook who has appeared on television and popular web pages, Kellie Hemmerly, has outdone herself with presenting beautiful boards that are suitable for serving on holidays and special occasions.

Hemmerly has an excellent imagination and presents unique boards for holidays, as well as breakfast and brunch dessert boards and dessert for every occasion including outdoor gatherings, formal gatherings, and buffets.

Hemmerly’s boards are suitable for children, families, and adults only parties. Almost everyone loves to choose from several offerings rather than just one thing. These trendy boards add lots of fun to dessert, and will probably be offered for years to come. These boards are beautiful, and there is a beautiful photograph of every board that is presented.

There are excellent recipes for many of the sweets that are used in the boards. The recipes are succinct and easy to follow. These recipes and boards are easy for anyone to put together, including beginning cooks, non-cooks, and experienced cooks. Some are made of all store-bought items, and others homemade items. They are also easy to adapt to what you have in your home, and substitutions are easy to add.

While boards aren’t a new idea, they are a great idea and will make your entertaining and family desserts lots of fun.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I like that the boards in this book are all focused on dessert or sweet themes. Chapters are Boards to start the day, boards for happy holidays, around the world boards, family friendly boards, celebration boards, any time boards, and recipes for homemade treats. Each board "recipe" has a full color photo and lists the ingredients in homemade and store bought sections. One of my favorite traits in this book is that each board recipe starts with listing the shape and diameter of the board or platter the author used to assemble it. This is a fun book for someone looking for specifically dessert boards or party dessert ideas.

I would not consider myself a culinary artist, but I do love to cook and I definitely appreciate excellent presentation. This picturesque book gives me hope that I can be the host with the most eye-catching and delicious boards around.
The highlights of this book of confectionery display principles include:
Types of boards and props that can be used
Build techniques
Ingredients and layouts for different types of sweet boards
Some of my favorite boards were:
Coffee Bar
Yogurt Parfait
Spring Brunch
Sushi and Sweets
Desert Nacho
After School Sweets
Sweet Summer Fruit Salad
There were so many beautiful, delicious, easy to make boats that narrowing it down to a few favorites was difficult.
An easy (and tasty!) 5 stars for this combination coffee table/recipe book. The photos are stunning and hunger inducing. There are even dessert recipes in the back to help you fill out your boards. Many thanks to Harvard Common Press via Netgalley.

Drool alert! The boards in this book look so yummy and fun. I like all the unique things people are doing today vs. The old boring cheese boards.

This was great and really gave me some ideas! I love how it started from the very beginning with what to use and how to get started.

The dessert boards in this book are so beautiful and colourful, they are practically works of art! My artist heart felt so happy just looking at them. My metabolic issues also had me looking at the pictures to see what alternatives for low-carb desserts I could come up with. Lots of ideas here for those who have no such issues.
The food can be store-bought or made at home if you choose, as recipes are provided. Definitely a book to have on-hand for a party where you can wow your guests.

Pros: I’ve recently read several books and articles about charcuterie boards, but I was thrilled to see a book devoted to dessert boards! Desserts often seem to be overlooked in the charcuterie world, and, as this book shows, there are so many opportunities to feature desserts on boards. I appreciate books like this one that feature many photographs because I am someone who needs to see a guide so that I can replicate an idea—making something look presentable is not one of my gifts. My favorite section of this book was the around-the-world section—I love when books feel inclusive and feature many cultures’ foods. I also thought the cupcake and cookie decorating boards were a brilliant idea that could be used at any holiday (or just a normal day) to keep family and friends of all ages occupied with an activity and a snack. The board I most wish I were eating as I read this book is the chocolate and cheese pairing board—yum!

Cons: None that I can think of.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press for the opportunity to read this book.

More than 50 dessert charcuterie board ideas inside! Oh my goodness, so many incredible ideas.

This book has all you'll need to set up a beautiful dessert board. So many ideas, recipes, photos, where to place items, how to get started. There is a lot of information packed in this book. I was happy to see a lot of beautiful, color photos -- and each board has a listing of exactly what is on there. There are some really good recipes included to enhance your dessert boards. It's for epic party planning or for every day gatherings.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Harvard Common Press, Harvard Common Press and NetGalley for a complimentary advanced copy of this book.

Charcuterie boards are all the rage these days, but we usually associate them with meats and cheeses, not dessert. This book is a fun take on the tasty trend. There are some really fun boards in this book! The breakfast section features a coffee bar, tea time tray, and a yogurt parfait board. Cute boards aboud in the holiday section. The Around the World chapter features candy sushi and dessert nachos. The Family Friendly section contians boards for caramel apples, and cupcake & cookie decorating. There also a few celebration-themed boards and an anytime chapter for things that didn't fit in other categories. Lots of different types of trays were used as charcuterie boards, too which made it feel more flexible and fun. These dessert boards are perfect for a night of entertaining or just a quiet night in with the immediate family.

This book is pretty great. It has a quick and simple intro, some cookbooks spend too long talking about all the things you need before getting to the good stuff. It has the dessert board options sorted into categories which is helpful. Most of the dessert board ideas are all items you can purchase from the store and not many involve items that you need to make which is nice. All of these ideas could be found online but it's also nice to have them collected in one book to be able to refer to flip through for inspiration. I think a lot of these would be great for parties or fun get togethers of all kinds.

Do you want to channel your inner Martha Stewart? A dessert board will do it! This book is so fun, colorful, and creative. I certainly don't have the vision to create these on my own but I was surprised at how easy it is to put a dessert board together when you have specific directions. It would definitely provide that wow factor for special events, family gatherings, or just every day specialness.

This is such a fun book!!! Who doesn't like dessert? There are boards designed for the different holidays. If you want to create a special night for St Patrick's day or the Super Bowl this book has you covered. These boards are not huge you can make them as full or as sparse as you like. The pictures are great and give you wonderful ideas of how to lay things out. If you want to have a cupcake or cookie decorating party they have a lay out for you. One of my favorites is the after school sweets. Individual boards with some skewered fruit and some nuts with yogurt. Perfect for those after school. The chocolate boards have my mouth watering. Ice cream bars and hot chocolate bars are fun for family game nights. Recipes are included.

There are some really great ideas for dessert boards in this book. I love all of the beautiful pictures that are included so you can see how the boards are arranged. I really like the ideas for movie night and after school, and the holiday boards as well. I will definitely be utilizing this book often for fun dessert boards!

It's a pretty book, full of ideas for dessert boards. I like most of them but I usually like boards that are completely full of items instead of having some gaps between the snacks. They all look simple and easy to make, Great for beginners. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review