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Whole Shelled Walnuts
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They can be used whole, crushed or pulverized. It's best to have large pieces, since they can be used as a whole and if needed, pulverized into smaller pieces and used elsewhere. I usually toast walnuts to "burn off" their oil; it's this oil that makes untoasted walnuts taste bitter. See also: "How to Toast Almonds". Walnuts, in most cases, need to be toasted, unless otherwise stated. I could use the more expensive pecans; but I'm not to keen about spending, especially if some one is going to fleck them off their plate and the nuts will go to waste. I only use pecans if they're the main ingredient in a given recipe; otherwise, I will use walnuts for decoration, which can inexpensively do the same job, but for less money. Pecans and walnuts may look the same, but pecans have less of that "bitter" taste to them.
Uses:
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Walnuts.
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Pecans.
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- Mix in with cake or muffin batter, or even dough
- Whole pieces (halves) can be dipped into chocolate and then be used as a cake decoration
- Crushed toasted walnuts can be randomly tossed on a frosted dessert
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Whole and Slivered Almonds, With or Without Skins
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They can be used whole, crushed or pulverized. It's best to have whole almonds, since they can be easily pulverized into smaller pieces and used elsewhere. You could do a lot with these and use them in: cookies, cakes, fillings, and decorations. See also: "How to Toast Almonds". Almonds, in most cases, need to be toasted, unless otherwise stated.
Uses:
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Almonds.
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Slivered Almonds with skins.
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- Toasted whole almonds can be used in place of cherries when studding stars or swirls of piped topping
- Toasted slivered almonds, with or without skins, can be used to cover the side of a cake or dessert
- Slivered almonds with skins have a contrasting look, which work great on cookies
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Chocolate and White Chocolate Chips
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Traditionally used "as is" when making cookies. Chips can also be melted and used to make chocolate moulds and decorations.
Uses:
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- Mixed in with cake, muffin batter, or even dough
- Whole chips can be randomly tossed on top of a cake
- Meticulously placed on a cake
- To coat the side of a cake; freeze chips until hard and then pulverize
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Bars of Chocolate
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Baking, coating, white, unsweetened and baker's semi-sweet come in bars or slabs.
Uses:
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- When melted, they can be piped on cookies, cake and other desserts
- Make a fancy chocolate leaf decorations; see also: "How to Make Chocolate Leaves"
- They can be grated on a grater or scraped with a zester to form tid-bits and then sprinkled over desserts
- They can be made into chocolate ribbons
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Cocoa Powder
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A good dusting of cocoa powder over a frosted cake can produce a simple, yet fancy decoration. Cocoa powder is ground cocoa nuts, less the butter (fat) and calories.
You have a choice between cocoa powder: a light and a dark one. The light one is inexpensive plain cocoa powder found everywhere. The dark one is plain cocoa powder that has been processed with alkali to mellow and darken the cocoa, which brings up its price and makes it more expensive and harder to find than plain cocoa.
You can create a contrast effect simply by using these two side by side.
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Light cocoa powder.
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Dark cocoa powder.
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Cinnamon Powder
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You can always use cinnamon powder, if cocoa powder isn"t available, to create a nice effect, as well as, to offer a different, yet slight flavour to your dessert. Cinnamon goes well with chocolate, vanilla, almonds and walnuts.
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Icing Sugar
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Also known as confectioners sugar, can also be used as a cake decoration when sifted over a plain unfrosted cake. The best part of having icing sugar on hand, is that you can combine it with a bit of cocoa or chocolate, vanilla, butter or shortening, and water or milk (cream), to create a quick and easy icing (or frosting). It only takes "a little bit of this and that", to turn a plain old coffee cake into an irresistible dessert. When making a quick icing or frosting, taste it for flavour, texture and thickness, and adjust each ingredient as necessary.
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Sprinkles - Chocolate and Multi Coloured (Rainbow)
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They break up the monotony of "all white" or "all chocolate" desserts. Pizzazz!
Note that all sprinkles are not alike. Some may bleed into the topping (dairy and non-dairy) after a few hours of refrigeration. Bleeding refers to when the colour of the sprinkles tint the topping. This doesn't affect the taste of the cake; though, it gives the cake a unique, yet different look.
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Tea Biscuits & Sandwich Cookies
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Cookies can be placed "as is" around and over of a cake. They can be soaked in syrup, with or without a liqueur. They can also be crushed, or pulverized, and then be used in a filling or cream, or sprinkled around and over a cake.
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Cherries: Maraschino & Candied
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They can be used whole, halved, or quartered. Candied cherries come in red and green. Halves are typically used in most recipes. If, however, you're decorating a cake and you're short on cherries, you can always quarter them instead and then add another element around them to take the focus away from their small size.
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