Dessert & Drinks Party

The best thing about a dessert party is that most of your food can be made a day or 2 ahead, leaving you with more time to clean, decorate and prep on the actual day. For the novice hostess, a dessert party is a lot easier than a cocktail party -no worrying about timing your hot hors d'oeuvres or being able to mix a multitude of drinks. You can focus your attention on one or two drinks and on the plating and finishing touches of your desserts.

I started the theme with this cute invitation from FineStationery.com. I love the dark brown ink color and envelope as it really screams 'chocolate'. Next, I wanted to include this chocolate fountain. For only $39.99 (from Target) this feature will be the hit of any party you throw. The choices for dipping are endless and can be customized to fit your theme. For a dessert & drinks party, I'd suggest any of the following: fruits, pound cake, marshmallows, pretzels, oreos, brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Also from Target are these adorable dessert plates. Each features a different dessert and a cute saying. These would also make a great hostess gift if you are attending a dessert party. Set of 4 in a cute little hat box- $19.99.

I've been reading the blog, Bakerella, and basically drooling over her creative desserts so I just had to include her adorable Nutter Butter Balls. See her blog for that recipe and a ton of other great ideas. The strawberry parfait image is from flickr user sweet pleasure : plaisir sucre. If you're looking for more dessert suggestions, try anything by Paula Deen or Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network.

The chocolate martini from Cocktail Times would be a lovely choice for a dessert party cocktail. Other suggestions would be the German Chocolate Caketini or the Irish Tiramisu.