Ideas and inspiration

We love to treat ourselves — that’s obvious! — so it won’t surprise you that we think indulging your sweet tooth is the perfect way to finish a meal. In fact, desserts just might be the most-anticipated part of any menu, so why not wow everyone at the table with the ultimate sweets spread to satisfy every craving? We’ve got you covered no matter how you like to eat — vegan, gluten-free or anything goes. Why dessert charcuterie boards are the bestFinger foods are just more entertaining to eat. And dessert boards — the sweet take on ever-popular charcuterie-and-cheese spreads — are a fun, attractive way to showcase a variety of treats and try a bunch of new flavours all at once. To make set-up easy, we’ve rounded up a few of our top tips for creating your very own board. Go for variety. Having a nice mix of flavours and/or textures is the key to keeping your board interesting. Thaw your sweets. Make sure you read the packages so you know how long each dessert needs to thaw before serving. This ensures you’ll enjoy the perfect texture. Decide on sizing. You generally want manageable bites on a dessert board, so try cutting large squares in half crosswise or diagonally. Or go the extra mile and use a few different cookie cutters to make cute shapes. Have fun with decorating. Wash and slice a variety of fruit to dress up your board. Wrapped candies, coconut chips, nuts and seeds are also excellent for filling up empty spaces, and they offer a wide variety of contrasting colours and textures. Four fun dessert boards for every kind of sweet toothTo get you started, we’ve created four inspiring lineups to try whenever the craving strikes. Use these as inspiration and get creative! The vegan boardYup, you read that right. Treating people who don’t eat animal products is easy (and very, very delicious) with our selection of vegan desserts. We have enough to fill an entire board, actually! Kick it off with our fan-favourite Chocolate Lovers Variety Pack, featuring a selection of gluten-free bars, including Spiced Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Chocolate Fudge and Chocolate Macaroons. Next up is our Dessert Bar Variety Pack, another perennial fave packed with delights like Walnut Brownies, Chocolate Coconut Bars and Peppermint Nanaimo Bars. If you want your board to be gluten-free, stop here; all of these luscious assortments carry the Canadian Celiac Association seal and guarantee worry-free eating. If gluten isn’t a concern, top up your board with the Gourmet Brownie Variety Pack for the traditionalists in the house — they’ll love the Double Chocolate and Chocolate Chip varieties and, of course, the Tiger Brownie, our comeback classic. The mini dessert bonanzaThere’s no denying that mini desserts are the most adorable. But when you feature these one-bite wonders all together on a big board, the cuteness overload is almost too much to bear (we said almost!). On opposite ends of the board, scatter a generous number of our creamy, decadent cheesecake bites, which come in delicious flavours like Vanilla Bean, Pralines and Cream and Coffee and Cream. And don’t miss out on a unique twist on a classic: cute little Nanaimo Bites, which feature rich cream cheese and chopped pecans wrapped in dark chocolate and topped with toasted coconut flakes. Mini Eclairs and Mini Cream Puffs are more must-haves on this dessert board. Light, fluffy pastry dough is filled with whipped cream, making for melt-in-your mouth treats. The eclairs are topped with a delectable chocolate glaze, and the cream puffs are even nicer with a light dusting of icing sugar on top. The dessert bar paradiseIt’s hip to be square, especially at dessert time! Offering a wide variety of bars and squares is a terrific way to ensure that everyone’s palate gets what it wants. For this board, set out rows upon rows of super tasty, super decadent treats. Think rich, indulgent Chocolate Chunk Buttercream Bars; Canadian must-haves, like Buttertart Bars and Nanaimo Bars; and our tart, refreshing Lemonicious Lemon Squares. With this spread, there’s something for every kind of sweet tooth, and sampling a little of everything is absolutely encouraged. The frozen treats buffetNote: Only available during barbecue season. Please check back from April through August. For summer days when cooling off is required, serving up an array of frozen, refreshing real Fruit Juice Bars is the perfect antidote to the heat. Tropical Fruit Bars, made with strawberries, mango, passion fruit, pineapple and coconut flakes, are sure to be an instant hit — one bite and you’ll swear you can almost feel a cool breeze coming off the ocean. Our Raspberry and Strawberry pops are classics, thanks to their perfect combo of tart and sweet flavours. Stock up and keep a variety in your freezer so you’ll have plenty on offer during the dog days of summer.

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How to build a luscious dessert board for any diet

Gluten-free grills and desserts