Wedding Dessert Buffet Recipes

Sorbet Bombe

mwd105617_sum10_icecream6.jpg
Con Poulos

Chill out before your big day by making these delightful sorbet bombes. All you need is a mixer to soften the sorbet and a metal container or four (we used cake molds and a vase to get these shapes). Once the sorbet is smooth in consistency, spoon it into the containers (for visual flair, layer different flavors), and freeze overnight. At your wedding, just slice and serve! Lemon, peach, coconut, and pink-grapefruit sorbets are showcased in our versions, but you could easily substitute ice cream.

01 of 30

Cherry Blossom-Themed Desserts

msw_spring03_pink_melting.jpg

A coconut cake, mint candies, and rose melting moments cookies create a gorgeous pink color scheme for this cherry blossom-inspired dessert buffet.

02 of 30

Frozen Strawberry Souffles

a99290_strawberrysouffles.jpg

Perfect for a wedding with a color palette of pink or red, these souffles can be served at each table setting after dinner, or to make an even bigger statement, combine them on a dessert buffet with store-bought colorful pink and red candies, cakes, and cookies.

03 of 30

Tropical Bombe

mwd103019_sum07_bombes1.jpg

Shapely bombes, consisting of sorbets layered in molds and frozen, lend cool sophistication to a sweets table and are wonderful with cake. On the left, a tropical bombe made with lemon, coconut, and passion fruit.

04 of 30

Cold Cherry Soup

a100008_sum03_chersp.jpg
Maura McEvoy

Cold cherry soup is a wonderful dessert for guests to sip before or after the cake. Rubber-stamped napkins emphasize the soup's flavor and the felicitous tone of the entire day.

05 of 30

Mini Chocolate-Covered Wedding Cakes

mwd105617_sum10_chocswirls1.jpg
Con Poulos

Fancy: Yes. Fussy: Not in the least. To make these mini chocolate-covered desserts, we poured a glaze over each cake and piped on lines -- and, in the case of the cake in the middle, circles -- of melted white chocolate. (Perch the cakes on a wire rack so excess glaze doesn't pool.) Then we gently dragged a toothpick through the lines to create the designs.

06 of 30

Mini Doughnuts

mwd103584_spr08_donut.jpg

End your wedding celebration with a few oh's (as in diminutive doughnuts) and ah's (as in the delighted response they're sure to evoke) by passing out these traditional breakfast treats. Serve with a cup of coffee (as shown here) or stack them on a dessert buffet for guests to enjoy.

07 of 30

Champagne Gelee with Fresh Currants

wedding_champgne_gelee226.jpg

This sophisticated and unique dessert idea is easy to make and beautiful to look at. Set it out on a buffet with like-colored desserts and you'll have a festive and themed after-dinner surprise for guests.

08 of 30

Lemon-Champagne Bombe

wd103019_sum07_lmnbombe.jpg

This bombe features a mound of lemon and Champagne sorbets. It makes the perfect addition to a wedding cake, or it can be served on its own for a unique spin on a wedding dessert.

09 of 30

Lemon Pavlovas

wd103019_sum07_pavlovas.jpg

To create these whimsical pavlovas, clouds of meringue, perfumed with vanilla, are baked until crispy outside and marshmallow-soft within; each is topped with a pool of lemon curd and candied lemon slices. The desserts are presented on curvaceous ceramic saucers that echo the meringues' peaks and billows.

10 of 30

Hazelnut Cheesecake Squares

wd103019_sum07_hazchsckesq.jpg

These cheesecake squares blend three types of cheeses together with a hazelnut cookie crust for the ultimate in cheesecake squares. Arrange them with assorted yellow candies and sweets on Plexiglas trays, in addition to the wedding cake or in lieu of.

11 of 30

Miniature Candied Apples

msw_fall_06_gt_mini.jpg

The diminutive scale of Lady apples transforms a fall favorite into a dainty nibble. Make guests feel like a kid again by displaying them on trays on a dessert buffet or serving them on passed trays after dinner.

12 of 30

Meyer Lemon and Cream Cheese Pound Cake

wd103019_sum07_minicake.jpg

Iced poppy-seed tea cakes are extra moist thanks to cream cheese in the batter. They make a great addition to a dessert buffet, or you can package them and give them to guests at the end of the night as wedding favors.

13 of 30

Blancmange

a98479_win01_blanc1.jpg
Jim Franco

For a delicious contrast, serve these puddings alongside chewy strips of candied lemon peel, available at gourmet shops and specialty candy stores.

14 of 30

Dessert-Wine Gelees with Citrus Fruit

mwd102896_su07_gellees.jpg
Joseph De Leo

These sangria-inspired gelees, infused with sweet wines and subtly undercut with citrus flavors, are for sophisticated palates.

15 of 30

Marshmallow Tower

mwd104300_win09_marsh_treat.jpg

Homemade marshmallows become even more special when dressed in a pastel version of your palette. When they're ready, stack 'em three high, spear with a cute, beaded toothpick (which comes in almost every imaginable color), and watch your guests gobble them up.

16 of 30

Beignets

mwd104645_spr09_milkshake1.jpg

If you've ever been a guest at a wedding where a tired-looking cake lands with a thud on your plate toward the end of the night, you'll appreciate this grown-up twist on milk and cookies. Plush, pillowy beignets -- a New Orleans treat whose name is from the French word for "fritter" -- are spiced with nutmeg and dusted with sugar, and they taste really good with malted milkshakes.

17 of 30

Marzipan Cherries

mw105260_0110_cherries.jpg

We covered dried sour cherries in marzipan and luster dust, then added faux leaves on top for a touch of gold. For the stems and leaves of these cherries, we dismantled gold plastic foliage.

18 of 30

Roulade in Contrasting Flavors

a100980_fal04_roulades.jpg
Dana Gallagher

Offer slices of roulade in contrasting flavors as an alternative to wedding cake. Yellow sponge cake is rolled with pistachio mousse, iced with whipped cream, and covered in white-chocolate bark. The Chocolate-Chestnut Roulade is filled and iced with a chestnut puree mixture and coated with dark-chocolate bark.

19 of 30

Miniature Angel Food Cakes

a100813_sum04_angelfood.jpg
Dana Gallagher

Though it's not often served at weddings, angel food cake never disappoints. Guests will be delighted by these individual versions of the heavenly confection; each one is glazed and then topped with a single sugared flower (an edible rose, viola, or primrose), making them elegant enough to present either in lieu of a classic wedding cake or as part of a dessert buffet. Cake stands dusted with pale-pink sanding sugar give them the stature they deserve.

20 of 30

Eggs in Nests Dessert

a98479_win01_nest.jpg
Jim Franco

Like a tiny blizzard, spun sugar swirls around an eggshell filled with white-chocolate ice cream. This sweet dessert can be served preceding the cake or in place of it.

21 of 30

"Potted" Chocolate Pudding

mwd105451_wed_getreadyforspring.jpg

Celebrate the season of buds and new beginnings with pretty seedlings for guests to admire -- and savor. Composed of flowering herbs nestled in chocolaty "soil"-covered pudding, the decadent desserts are a sweet, witty symbol of your fresh start.

22 of 30

Floating Islands in Rose Syrup

mwd105427_spr10_icecream05.jpg

The light meringues and concentrated flavors of our floating islands in rose syrup require a wine with ample acidity yet enough sweetness to hold its own. Croft's Pink Port ($19), the venerable producer's first ever, fits the bill and then some. The dessert sipper has tickly sweet notes of raspberries, sour cherries, and oranges; a great, balancing acidity; and subtle notes of baking spices that accentuate the nutmeg sprinkled on the meringues.

23 of 30

Layered Gelee

mwa_spr10_cherry13.jpg

Poured into simple, modern glasses, these graphic layers of flavored gelee (rose water, ginger, lychee, and rose Champagne) elevate the childhood staple to wedding-worthy haute cuisine. Top them with a single cherry blossom.

24 of 30

Sauternes Sabayon

mwd104645_spr09_zabaglione1.jpg

Rich yet airy, this smooth dessert gets its lift from the whipped cream and can be incorporated on a dessert table with fluffy sweets such as macaroons and pavlovas.

25 of 30

Mini Angel Food Cakes

mwd104645_spr09_angel2.jpg

Little in the pastry world is more charming than a perfectly constructed individual dessert, especially when it's drenched in icing and topped with a spun-sugar crown.

26 of 30

Strawberry Desserts

mwa104426_win09_suitetreats.jpg

Mini berry desserts make for enticing accompaniments. Vacherins (meringues topped with rose-water whipped cream and a slice of strawberry), panna cotta capped with strawberry gelatin, and strawberries and creme fraiche tarts all pay homage to the petite fruit.

27 of 30

Luster-Dusted Meringues

mw105260_0110_meringues.jpg

One would think that meringues can't be improved upon, but dip them in a mix of luster dust and orange extract, and you'll think differently.

28 of 30

Miniature White Cakes

mw105137_0110_cakes2_exp1.jpg

Who says plain cake has to be, well, plain? Cut pieces from a sheet cake, frost them using a few simple techniques, and watch as your guests -- and their sugar cravings -- delight in their delicious differences.

29 of 30

Old-Fashioned Yeast Doughnut Holes

mwd105009_fall09_dnthls_018.jpg

Late-night snacks can feel as tired as the wedding guests who devour them. These doughnut holes, however, are a wake-up call in the form of a sugar rush. Simply ask your caterer to whip up a big batch in a variety of sugar-coated hues, and serve them to your (grateful) guests in metallic-gold paper cones.

30 of 30

Sparkly Champagne Gelatin

mw105260_0110_gelatin.jpg

For grown-ups only, our Champagne gelatin, paired with fresh whipped cream, will delight the young at heart and sophisticated of palate. (Use rose Champagne for a pink hue.)

Was this page helpful?
Related Articles