types of food

There are a few classic salads that are made with meat including chicken caesar salad, and taco salad. But there a ton of main meal salads with protein that will keep you full and have a burst of flavor.

You can add shrimp, steak, chicken, or ground beef to your favorite salads for some added protein to make sure salads a bit more filling for yourself.

Bringing these types of salads can be much more filling than the average meatless salad.

Caesar Salad

Caesar salad is a basic salad that can have meat added to it, including prawns, chicken, steak, prosciutto, or pancetta.

Steak Caesar salad is one of my favorite summer salads to serve with meat.

It’s a light salad, but has that extra BBQ sauce topped steak on it, making it one of the most juicy and tasty salads to have in the summertime.

Caesar salads that have meat in them are best served with garlic bread or focaccia bread on the side.

Taco Salad

Taco salad is made with ground beef and black beans, giving it a ton of protein.

Taco salad is made with a main body of lettuce, topped with tomatoes, cheese, corn, avocado, and jalapenos.

Taco salad is a unique meat salad in that it is topped with the same fixings as a taco, including sour cream, cheese, and even tortilla chips.

The tortilla chips are more of a garnish, but they also give the meat salad a crunchy flavor to it, adding a little more texture.

Chicken BLT Salad

Chicken BLT salad is made with chicken, bacon, avocado, cherry tomatoes over a bed of greens.

The chicken in the salad is marinated first with a champagne vinegar marinade, making it have a tangy taste to it.

Chicken BLT salad is topped with a citrus tomatillo vinaigrette dressing.

Shrimp Salad

Shrimp salad is made on a bed of greens, topped with shrimp, avocado, and red onions.

The shrimp are cooked in a frying pan to infuse a citrus flavor into them.

The shrimp are cooked in a combination of orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices. The shrimp are topped with a bit of parsley, making them have a earthy, lemon to them.

Greek Salmon Salad

Greek salmon salad is made with a base of lettuce, topped with everything you would add to a Greek salad.

The Greek salmon salad is topped with feta, olives, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red onions.

The dressing is a Greek vinaigrette which compliments the flavors of the vegetables.

The salmon is cooked in the frying pan, and then has a hint of lemon juice added to it.

The Greek salmon salad is best served while the salmon is still warm.

How to store a salad that has meat in it

When making a salad with meat, make sure to store it in the fridge, and not to leave it out of the fridge for more than 2 hours. Meat is not able to stay out of fridge for longer than 2 hours, as there is a risk of bacteria growth that can make you sick. This has a bit of shorter time frame if the salad is sitting in direct sunlight. If you’re bringing your salad for a picnic on a summer day, pack it with an ice pack to ensure it’s staying at the correct temperature prior to eating it.

Fresh spinach can be easily sautéed in a couple of minutes on the stovetop. The spinach must be moved constantly to avoid burning the leaves.

1. In a medium frying pan on low-medium heat, place all of the spinach you would like to cook. Make sure your spinach has been washed, there is no need to dry it off before cooking. The water from the spinach will steam off in the cooking process.
2. Using a pair of tongs, grab sections of spinach and turn them over. Constantly move the spinach this way to cook the leaves at all angles.
3. It should take about 5-10 minutes to cook ~3-4 cups of spinach. You’ll know when it’s finished, because it will be completely wilted and a dark green color.

How to use freshly sautéed spinach for a recipe

Spinach, even when using it frozen, needs to have the water removed before using it.

To drain the water out of your freshly sautéed spinach, you’ll want to cool it for a few minutes before touching it.

1. Wrap small bunches of spinach in paper towel.
2. Hold the wrapped spinach over a bowl and squeeze the water out.
3. Remove the spinach from the paper towel and place in a fresh bowl to use for your recipe.

When making a recipe with cooked spinach, the water needs to be removed because it can interfere with the liquid to solid ratio.

For example, if you’re making spinach dip, the water will not be absorbed by the dip, therefore it will ruin the spinach dip.

If you’re making lasagna with ricotta and spinach, the water will not be absorbed by the ricotta cheese, and will make the lasagna runny.

For these reasons, it’s important to remove the water from the spinach after cooking it down.

What recipes can you use sautéed spinach for

• spinach dip
• lasagna
• spinach and chickpeas
• Tuscan gnocchi

A cheese calzone is a calzone that has it’s base a mixture of cheeses. Typically a cheese calzone would consist of mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan cheeses. The cheeses are mixed with breadcrumbs and herbs to give it a good base before placing the cheese filling in the calzone dough. A cheese calzone can also be mixed with meats including salami, ham, prosciutto, or pepperoni.

How do you seal a calzone?

The calzone dough is sealed with a bit of egg and then pressed down with a fork to seal the edges.

Calzone Dough vs Pizza Dough

Calzone dough and pizza dough are actually same type of dough. Usually people make calzones with their leftover pizza dough. To use pizza dough for calzone dough, roll it out into a rectangle. Cut strips of dough that are quite wide ~6 inches wide & 12 inches long. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it depends how large you want your calzones. Place the filling on the bottom half of your cut rectangles. Fold and stretch your calzone dough over your filling and seal the edges with water or a bit of egg. Then using a fork, seal the calzone dough around the edges and you’re ready to bake them.

Calzone fillings that are vegetarian

• spinach
• onions
• peppers
• mushrooms

Do calzones have ricotta?

Calzones can have ricotta in them, along with a mixture of other cheeses like parmesan and mozzarella. Ricotta calzones can also be mixed meats and other vegetables to be a more balanced meal for dinner.

Calzone fillings with ricotta

• ricotta and mozzarella
• ricotta and spinach
• ricotta, Italian sausage, parmesan cheese
• ricotta and arugula
• prosciutto and ricotta
• ricotta, sundried tomato, parmesan cheese

Do calzones have sauce?

Calzones don’t usually have sauce, but you can serve marinara sauce with your calzones for dipping sauce. Another sauce to serve with your calzones is garlic butter to dip your calzone into.

What goes good with a calzone?

There are countless foods that go well with calzones. You’ll want to balance out the flavors of your calzone to the side you are picking for your dinner. Don’t pick two similar foods, try to select complimenting foods for your meal.

• Butternut squash soup
• potato leak soup
• minestrone soup
• Caesar salad
• corn on the cob
• green salad
• marinara sauce

The 4 components of a salad are the base, body, dressing and garnish.

The base of a salad is the greens or leaves that line the bottom of the salad.

The body is the meat, vegetables, or fruit.

The dressing is what coats the salad.

The garnish includes cheese, nuts, and herbs for the top of the salad.

Components of a Salad

Base of a Salad

The base of a salad is the greens that line the bottom of the salad.

You could make a salad with a couple different types of base, including red leaf lettuce and arugula.

• iceberg lettuce
• romaine lettuce
• red leaf lettuce
• cabbage
• spinach
• arugula
• red oak lettuce

Body of a Salad

The body of the salad sits on top of the base of the salad.

The body of a salad can be a mixture of cooked and uncooked ingredients such as meat, vegetables and fruit.

Typically salads have a few different body components in them such as strawberries, cucumber and avocado.

• bacon
• chicken
• shrimp
• eggs
• carrots
• celery
• grapes
• strawberries
• tomatoes
• avocado
• onions
• apples

Dressing a Salad

The dressing of a salad is the liquid that will be dispersed throughout to coat the body and base of the salad.

The dressing brings the salad together to make it taste refreshing.

Salad dressings can be acidic, sweet, salty, or creamy.

• vinaigrette
• ranch dressing
• Caesar dressing
• oil and vinegar
• Italian dressing
• honey balsamic dressing

Garnishing a Salad

The garnish of a salad is a food or herb that will go on the top of the salad for added decoration and color, and enhance the flavor of the salad.

A garnish for a salad includes cheese, nuts, dried fruits, spices, or herbs.

The garnish should be eye-catching and appeal to the person eating the salad.

Salad Garnish Ideas

• Fresh berries – blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
• Cheddar Cheese
• Blue Cheese
• Feta
• Parmesan crisps
• Olives
• Grapes
• Pomegranate seeds
• Onion crisps
• Wonton crisps
• Nuts
• Arugula
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Dried cranberries
• Dried raisins
• Strips of tortillas 
• Crostini
• Sliced radish
• Grated carrots
• Grated bell peppers
• Sliced avocado
• Mint leaves

5 Types of salad

There are 5 types of salads including tosses, bound, vegetable fruit, and combination

Tossed

A tossed salad is a green salad or garden salad that is mixed together with vegetables and/or fruit, and dressing.

Tossed salads are typically made with iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, or red leaf lettuce.

Tossed salad examples

• cucumber tomato salad
• cherry kale salad

Bound

A bound salad is one that has a cooked ingredient in it, such as meat, eggs, pasta, or potatoes.

Bound salads can have cheese or vegetables included in them as well.

• pasta salad
• potato salad
• tuna salad
• macaroni salad
• chicken salad
• seafood salad
• Nicoise salad

Vegetable

A vegetable salad consists of raw or cooked vegetables.

Vegetable salads have some sort of cheese added to them such as feta, brie, or goat cheese.

Vegetable salads can have coleslaw or cabbage in them as a base.

• Greek salad
• broccoli salad

Fruit

A fruit salad consists of a mixture of fruit with sweet or citrusy dressing.

Fruit salad Ingredient examples:

• apples
• strawberries
• bananas
• pineapple
• mango
• grapes
• peaches
• nectarines
• watermelon
• cantaloupe
• blueberries
• blackberries
• raspberries

Fruit salad dressing examples:

• honey citrus dressing
• lime mint dressing

Fruit salads typically have mint as a garnish on top.

Combination

A combination salad is a mixture of the other 4 types of salads.

Combination salads are typically made of meat or cheese that have been added to vegetables in a tossed salad.

• sesame chicken cabbage crunch salad
• chef’s salad

If you have too many potatoes on hand, you need to figure out what you’re going to do with all of them. You need to decide if you want to store them, cook them, or freeze them.

How to Store Potatoes

To store your potatoes at room temperature, place them in a dark, dry area. They will stay good for a couple of weeks.

If you’re wanting your potatoes stored for longer, there are a couple of other options.

What to do with potatoes before they go bad

• hash browns
• roasted potatoes with parmesan
• scalloped potatoes
• smashed potatoes
• parmesan garlic potato wedges
• potato casserole
• baked potato rounds
• mashed potatoes
• broccoli and cheddar potatoes
• twice baked potatoes
• potato latkes
• Greek lemon potatoes
• Breakfast hash brown and bacon casserole
• potato pancakes
• potato bread
• French fries

What can you make with potatoes for dinner

• potato soup with Italian sausage
• potato salad
• twice baked potato casserole
• onion and cheddar mashed potato cakes
• Buffalo potatoes
• potato nachos
• chickpea and potato curry

Freeze chopped potatoes

You can freeze chopped potatoes that have not been cooked in an airtight container, or a sealed plastic bag.

The potatoes will turn brown in the freezer, but they will retain most of their flavor.

Thaw your frozen chopped potatoes in the fridge overnight and cook them up for hash browns.

Freeze cooked potatoes

You can freeze cooked potatoes by baking them in the oven and then letting them cool.

Next, you can grate, slice, or chop your potatoes. Grating your cooking potatoes is the easiest way.

You don’t have to worry about the size as your grating. It’s much simpler than making sure your slices or chopped potatoes are all of similar sizes.

Frozen grated cooked potatoes are a great additive for making soup, curry, stew, breakfast casseroles, and hash browns.

Freeze shredded potatoes

Once you have your potatoes shredded, place them in an airtight container and freeze them.

To thaw your frozen shredded potatoes, place them in the fridge overnight and use them the following day for your recipe.

How to keep potatoes fresh after peeling

To keep potatoes fresh after you’ve finished peeling them, place them in a bowl of cold water.

They will not go brown, since they are not exposed to air.

Therefore, oxidation will not take place. The potatoes will keep fresh after peeling them and putting them in water for a couple of hours.

Creating a charcuterie board is a ton of fun and lets your creative self takeover.

You can shape your charcuterie meats into roses, or intricate layers to give a bit of texture to your charcuterie board.

You can add a ton of color to your charcuterie board by adding fruit, herbs, and berries at throughout the board.

How to plate a charcuterie board

Plating a charcuterie board involves getting a large enough serving platter for all of your items.

Depending on how many people your serving for, you might need quite a large serving board.

There are many items that need to fit on a plate for charcuterie including many tiny bowls, cheese, meet, and fruit.

Select your food serving board:

• Marble
• Wooden
• Porcelain
• Slate

Things to keep in mind for plating a charcuterie board

Height: Vary the heights of your cheeses. Place your Brie, Boursin, Blue Cheese in large pie shaped pieces standing up. Lie flat with the other cheeses that you plan to slice. 

Color: Green/red grapes, mint leaves. Fruit slices – red skins for apples, green skins for pears. Brown nuts. Light colored cheeses.

Texture: Textured whole seed mustard. Smooth honey. Soft and hard cheeses. Soft and hard cured meats.

Shopping List for Charcuterie

Select your own cheeses, meats, condiments, and plating foods that fit best for you. Pick condiments that you have at home to make it easy on yourself. Pick only a couple to maybe a few of the cheeses and meats. You don’t need more than 3 of each for your guests.

Cheese

• Brie
• Gorgonzola
• Aged cheddar
• Aged smoked cheddar
• Parmesan
• Camembert
• Goat
• Burrata
• Boursin

Meat

• Salami
• Prosciutto
• Capicola
• chorizo
• Ham
• Foie Gras

Condiments

• Mustard
• Red pepper jelly
• Honey
• Fig jam
• Pomegranate jelly
• Dried cranberries
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Cashews
• Sliced pickles – pickles for cheese board are typically dill pickles
• Olives
• Sliced apples
• Sliced pears

Breads & Crackers

• Crackers
• Raincoast Crisps
• Pita chips
• Baguette

Extras

• grapes
• pretzels
• rosemary sprigs
• mint sprig
• raspberries
• strawberries
• blueberries
• basil leaves
• pineapple cubes

Charcuterie vs Cheese Board

The difference between charcuterie and a cheese board is charcuterie has both cheese and cured meats on the board.

A cheese board would be a no meat charcuterie board which can be just as delicious as regular charcuterie.

If you’re going with a no meat charcuterie board, pick a few more cheeses (5-7 cheeses) and a couple more condiments for the added variety,

What kind of mustard do you use for a charcuterie board

Typically whole grain mustard is used for a charcuterie board. Whole grain mustard has the seeds still visible in the mustard, giving it a textured coarse look.

How to put together a charcuterie board

1. Place all of your condiments into small bowls, or directly onto the charcuterie board. Group them into sections. Try to vary the textures and colors when placing them onto the board.
2. Put your cheeses onto the board next. Keep in the mind the heights of the cheese, and fan out the flat cheese for a tasteful look.
3. Roll up the meats that are long pieces up so they look presentable. Fan out the other meats that are cut into disks.
4. Place your breads and crackers onto the board. Try to fan out the bread pieces and stack the crackers or fan them out if your have the room. If you don’t have enough room on your food serving board, you can place them on a separate dish.
5. Last but not least, the plating items. These are the items that dress up the board like fruit, or fresh herbs. If you’re putting sticks of pretzels onto your board, you can either lie them flat, or place them in a tall glass so they add the height variation to the charcuterie board.
6. Serve your plated charcuterie board immediately. If you’re not serving it right away, place it in the fridge with some plastic wrap while your waiting.

How to transport a charcuterie board

To transport a charcuterie board, you’ll want to find something you can put the entire plate in, that has high sides.

This could be a reusable grocery box, a cardboard box, or a plastic bin. Find one that it fits snugly in. Keep your charcuterie board covered during transport with plastic wrap.

Charcuterie board themes

Christmas Charcuterie Board: add decorative cranberries or small cedar branches to your charcuterie board

Halloween Charcuterie Board: add small gourds to your charcuterie board, or some spooky decorations like fake spiders or skeleton bones

Valentines Charcuterie Board: add a bowl of cinnamon hearts to your charcuterie board or some chocolate dipped strawberries

Dessert Charcuterie Board: All different types of desserts – cakes, chocolates, jams and fruit. Learn how to make your own dessert charcuterie board.

To seal dough, this depends on what type of dough you are sealing. If you’re sealing puff pastry, use a bit of water or egg to seal the edges together. You can pinch the pastry together to seal the dough.

Be sure not to overfill with filling. If any of your filling gets on the pastry you want to seal, this can make it difficult to seal the pastry together. This is due to the oil or fat that is present in your filling. Water or eggs cannot seal fat together, so it makes it difficult to seal your dough.

When making foods like a calzone or a sausage roll, make sure your dough is at room temperature. This will make it easy to roll out and seal your dough.

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Once you’ve sealed the dough with your fingers by pushing down on the dough, use a fork to press down on the edges of the pastry to complete the seal. The calzone/dough pockets need to be poked on the top with a fork to allow for aeration. This helps let the steam out of your food when it’s cooking. The seal will remain intact without the steam trying to push open your pastry dough.

How to seal puff pastry without eggs

You can seal puff pastry without eggs by using water. Dip your finger into a dish of water and run your finger down the pastry where you plan to seal the edges. Press the edges together. Then use a fork to push the seams together which will create a good seal for puff pastry.

How to seal pastry edges

Pastry edges can be sealed using water or egg along the very edge of pastry. Squish the pastry edges together once you have wet the edges with water or egg. This should hold the seal well for pastry.

What is a pastry crimper?

A pastry crimper seals the edges of dough and adds decoration to the dough as you run it along the edges. A pastry crimper is going to cut the dough for you to give you that beautiful edging on ravioli, pie crust, etc.

A pastry crimper is also known as a pastry edger.

You can make decorations for your pie crust using a pastry edger. If you want to make some decorations for the top of your pie crust, you can use cookie cutters to cut your pie crust into shapes. Then use your pastry edger to make the edges have a bit more texture and depth to them. Your guests will love how beautiful your pie turns out.

If you don’t have a pastry edger, you can also use your fingers to pinch the pie crust to make it have triangles all the way around the pie. Another way to decorate the pie ege is by pushing the dough in between your 1 index fingers and folding it in a tiny bit at an angle. This will create long pieces of dough that will fold in and create a rope looking decoration all around your pie. If you want a more simple design, push the tip of your finger into the dough all the way around the pie to make small rounded circles for your pastry edge. You can get creative with utensils at home by using a fork and criss crossing a design on your pastry edge.

Dice butter by getting your exact amount out of your fridge. The butter should be cold before dicing.

Put the butter on a cutting board. Slice the butter using a knife every 1 cm.

Slice the butter the opposite way creating squares that are 1 cm in thickness.

Turn the butter onto it’s side, and slice the butter horizontally every 1 cm. Now you have diced your butter to create cubes of butter that are 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm.

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What is cold butter

Cold butter is butter that is in the fridge which has a temperature of 2-6 degrees Celsius. Typically cold butter is used to cut into recipes used for baking scones and pastry.

How to cut butter into flour using a food processor

Cutting butter into flour with a food processor is very simple.

1. Set up your food processor using your S blade.
2. Place all of your dry ingredients into the food processor.
3. Place cold butter that has been cubed into the food processor.
4. Pulse the food processor in short intervals until the butter/flour mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

How to slice butter

Butter that needs to be sliced must be at fridge temperature. Get a sharp knife and put the butter on a cutting board. Place your knife as close to the edge of the butter as possible and push down your knife into the butter. Your butter should cut nicely into sections.

What is the tool that cuts fat into flour

The tool that is used to cut fat into flour is called a pastry blender. A pastry blender has sharp metal running the length of the tool that cuts butter into sections. The pastry blender is pressed into the butter and then turn a 1/4 turn when in the dry ingredients. This creates the coarse crumbs.

How to grate butter without a grater

Have your butter in the freezer before you try to grate your butter. If you don’t have a grater, you can use a potato peeler to grate butter for your recipe. A potato peeler is an easy to use tool to grate butter without a grater. It will create longer strands of butter than a grater, but it will work in a pinch.

What can you bake with unsalted butter

Unsalted butter is used in baking for recipes that need a controlled amount of salt. Salt can add a lot of flavor in recipes which can ruin the flavor if you use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Unsalted butter is much fresher than salted butter. Unsalted butter is only has a shelf life for 1 month, versus 3-4 months for salted butter.

You can bake several foods with unsalted butter:

• Croissant dough
• Pastry cream
• Scones
• Caramel sauce
• Pastry
• Pie crust
• Tart shells

Why do you cut butter into flour?

Butter is cut into flour to create small pieces of butter that resemble coarse crumbs. The small pieces of butter melt into the dough as it bakes. This creates flakes of buttery pastry that melt in your mouth. Pastries that are made with butter that is cut into flour need to be carefully mixed when adding liquid ingredients. The pastry dough should not be overmixed. Make sure you use gentle mixing for your making your pastry dough.

Serving ice cream at a dinner party can be a fun and exciting dessert to serve your guests. Dinner parties are typically fancy, formal, and people expect something more than the norm.

To impress your guests, there are a few ways to serve ice cream for your dinner party.

How to Serve Ice Cream Buffet Style for a Dinner Party

Serving ice cream buffet style is all in the preparation. You need to have a few small bowls for toppings for your ice cream. Select 4-5 toppings for your dinner party. Prepare your toppings in your small bowls before your guests arrive. Pick 1-3 flavors of ice cream for a bit of variety. Let your guests make their own buffet style ice cream.

25 Toppings for ice cream:

• Oreo crumbs
• sprinkles
• caramel sauce
• chocolate sauce
• strawberry sauce
• bananas
• mango
• kiwis
• strawberries
• blueberries
• blackberries
• apples
• pecans
• Rolos
• chocolate chips
• peanut butter cups
• whipped cream
• pretzels
• marshmallows
• salted caramel sauce
• toffee bits
• hot fudge
• slivered almonds
• mint chocolate chips
• brownie pieces

How to Serve Layered Ice Cream for a Dinner Party

Making a layered ice cream for a dinner party should be prepared 1 day in advance to have the ice cream freeze well before serving.

You’ll need:

• as many small half sphere silicone molds as guests coming to your party
• 3 types of ice cream that go well together, or 2 types of ice cream + chocolate ganache that has been frozen
• 1-3 toppings for the ice cream

Decide if you want to do 3 layers of ice cream, or 2 layers of ice cream and 1 inner layer of chocolate ganache. You could make dark chocolate ganache, milk chocolate ganache or white chocolate ganache as your center filling. This should be made the day before you’re preparing your molds, and then frozen so you’re ready to fill your silicone molds the following day.

Begin by selecting the ice cream for your outer layer. Your outer layer will be the one that will have your toppings on it.

Place your ice cream in the silicone mold. Use a metal spoon to press the ice cream around so that all of the sides are covered in ice cream. Try to make it a 1/2 cm in thickness. Place each silicone mold in the freezer in an airtight container as you complete them. They will start to melt very quickly and it will be messy.

Freeze for 30 min – 1 hour. Then you’re ready for your next layer. Select your inner layer of ice cream. Use a fresh metal spoon to put the ice cream in the molds. Press the ice cream into the first layer so it’s completely covered. The thickness isn’t as important for this one, just make sure you leave a bit of space for the center flavor.

Freeze for 30 min – 1 hour. Now you’re ready for your final layer. Use a melon baller or a fresh spoon to scoop your center layer of ice cream or ganache. Chocolate ganache is typically very hard when it comes right out of the freezer, so it’s best if you thaw it out for 5-8 min before trying to scoop it. Press your final layer into your silicone mold. It doesn’t have to be flat by any means, just make sure it’s filled and pressed into your second layer.

Freeze your silicone mold dessert overnight.

When you’re ready to serve your ice cream for your dinner party, first remove the silicone mold from your ice cream. Use your fingers on either side of the silicone mold to peel the outer silicone mold off of the ice cream, with your thumb on the top of the mold pushing the ice cream out. Try to take them out and place them directly onto your serving plate.

Once you have all of your desserts on their serving plates, you can top your ice cream. Use 1-2 toppings for your layered ice cream dessert.

Creating this layered ice cream dessert is called a “Tartufo”.

What is a Tartufo?

A tartufo is an Italian dessert made of 2 or more ice cream flavors. The center is usually fruit filled – raspberry, strawberry or cherry. It’s topped with chocolate, cocoa powder, cinnamon or nuts traditionally.

This is one of the most impressive desserts to serve at a dinner party. It’s fairly simple, but it is time consuming layering the ice cream. Your guests will love pressing their spoon into their dessert and seeing the layers.