Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting an SLCmixer with Hillary from Rue de Lis Desserts. She amazed us all with her scrumptious treats and thrifty decorating ideas. We all left with several more unusual ideas for what desserts will grace our Thanksgiving tables.  Some of us may even go home and create an entire dessert bar which Hillary also displayed for us. All in all, it was a tasty afternoon and a perfect start to the Thanksgiving season.

Here are a few of Hillary’s tips regarding the creation of a Thanksgiving Dessert Bar:

Create different levels using cake stands, suitcases, and baskets.

Use three colors for your color pallet

Cover the table with a fall colored tablecloth, sheet, or a large piece or burlap.

Include fresh fall flowers along the table.

Make a variety of small desserts so everyone can try some of each- smaller cookies, mini creme brûlées, desserts in small jars, or French macaroons.

Hillary also gave us tips on where to find inexpensive additions to your table decor: Tai Pan Trading, Wal-Mart for Jars, thrift stores for cake stands, Standard Restaurant Supply for individual serving dishes

Here are the desserts we tasted throughout the afternoon:

Apple Raspberry Pie Pops

Pumpkin Ginger Creme Brulee

Chocolate Beer Cake

Cranberry Paclova

Pumpkin French Macaroons

Fig and Peach Bread Pudding with Milk Rum Sauce

Pumpkin Pecan Sandies

All attendees were given recipes and tips on how to make each dessert.  If you’re interested in taking a Thanksgiving class similar to this one, we still have openings for our Thanksgiving side-dish class with Victoria from Pinon Market.

As for the desserts here are a few tips on making holiday desserts: make cookie dough ahead of time, freeze, then bake fresh the day-of.  You can also make cake in advance and freeze the layers then assemble the day before or day-of. Bread Puddings and Creme Brûlées can be made early as well and just baked or bruleed right before serving. You can make individual pies by making pie pops and you don’t even need a mold to make them.

I must also mention that if your holiday season is looking a bit too hectic to create something to this degree but you’d still like to make an effort, Hillary would love to help with your Thanksgiving desserts. She is a local dessert caterer and only requires an order of a dozen. And I must mention that she is a gracious and lovely person to work with, humble even with her brief stardom on Cupcake Wars.  Her treats would be perfect for your family holiday gathering, or to bring to your work party.  Also, she delivers without a fee in Salt Lake. For more information go to RueDeLis.com or to her facebook page.

Interesting in attending a future SLcmixer, here’s our line up for the rest of 2012: SLCmixers.