With a diamond and desserts, only good things are bound to happen. Baking and love intermix seamlessly, adding pizzazz to an already electric celebration.

You say the words "surprise" and "dessert," and you're sure to have me on your team! It's no enigma that when Jake disclosed secret plans for proposing to one of my BEST friends, I was on board and immediately scheming.

Naturally, dessert was my lane. As with all occasions, cooking for the people you love truly does give a spark to creativity and infuses emotionality into creation. With love being the main subject of the date, I was overflowing with anticipation and anxious to provide offerings that would bolster the overall atmosphere.

Uninhibited by any sort of guidelines, I was left to my own devices- thankfully I have some experience in this arena and was able to deduce what would compose a great menu. An "I trust you" from Jake, and I threw on my apron, ready for great things to happen.

One will note that a certain cadence must be adhered to when baking for large groups. There's nothing that will make a baker's (or really anyone's) stomach drop more violently than will mishaps in the food department leading up to an event. General concepts I abide by for baking for a crowd are these: give the people variety, small bites are better than large slices, presentation matters, and it doesn't have to be perfect.

Give the people variety. Ingrained in each individual we know is a predilection for this over that, and taste is no exception. In any group, you'll have your "vanilla is best" traditionalists, your "if it isn't chocolate, is it dessert?" loyalists, and your "the more interesting the flavor, the better it is" thrill-seekers. No single confection is going to grace all palates in the same chorus- if you only give one option, you are guaranteed to have some people out there that are dissatisfied and hankering for reparations to be made. Making an array of choices ensures that no one will leave unhappy, not to mention that it makes the hosts of the soirée seem ultra considerate.

Small bites are better than large slices. Unless you (or your host) wants to shell out an exorbitant sum for ingredients, any dessert that allows a guest to serve themselves will lead to trouble. Come on, we all do it- go to the cake/pie table and give ourselves license to take more than is fair under the guise that "no one else is doing it." Time and again, this assumption will prove to be untrue. Dancing along the fine line of having enough for everyone and not is just something I refuse to do. My solution? Make miniature desserts! Not only are they precious, but they give you the flexibility to make a lot of pieces and allow your guests to pick and choose a few things. In actuality, people will end up taking less. The best part about this is that you, as the baker, retain control of portion sizes and avoid the sticky situation of overzealous eaters.

Presentation matters. Especially when you've put so much effort into the gastronomy of the spread, you want it to look just as appetizing. A pretty dessert table, in my opinion, is practically a necessity for any sort of event. The thing about presentation is that it doesn't have to be hyper-fancy or expensive to impress. Making cupcakes? You'll have to ice them anyways, so why not use a tip that makes the topping more decorative. Have extra cookies hiding in your pantry? Chop 'em up or crush them to create a fine dusting for your creations. Fresh fruit? Garnish all sorts of cake and pies with things like berries or citrus. Place them individually or mound them in a purposeful pile to really heighten sophistication of your treat and allude to freshness. See, it doesn't have to be crazy to be thoughtfully curated! (Disclaimer: I did, in fact, use tweezers to place exactly three microscopic pearls atop each petit four, but we'll get into that later on).

It doesn't have to be perfect. If you get nothing else out of this diatribe, heed this! Hold in the forefront of your mind the purpose behind what you're doing. Whether it's a celebration of a milestone or just a casual gathering of souls, the main reason you are coming together is not to eat dessert. Hard to believe, right?! Think about the camaraderie you share with the people around you, the ties of love and friendship, the laughs and the stories. That is why we congregate, and dessert is just the cherry on top (no pun intended). No one is as big of a critic as yourself, so cut some slack. If the sweets don't look uniform or you didn't achieve a faultless glaze, don't worry about it- odds are no one will notice because their mouths will be full.

On to the actual baking part! I wanted to create a table that was nothing short of exquisite! Not only did I have to decide what I would bake, but I had to decide what flavors, how much, and the techniques I would use. Daunting at first notion, but incredibly practical in application, I had to approach the feat with determination and joy.

After wrestling with my recipe books, the internet, and a whole host of magazine recipes I have hoarded, I first landed on the idea of petit fours. Truly a sight to behold, they're delicate yet intricate, and they pack a complex flavor profile into a small bite. Petit fours are also interesting, because each layer offers the opportunity for you to introduce new and exciting ingredients!

Not only does the confection look wonderful, but you can begin with one sheet cake and transform it into bite-sized wonders- at least that's how I did it! Again, you as the baker are in control of the size of the pieces, and you can determine how many you end up with. Genius, no?!

I figured I'd go vanilla with the cake, it being a classic and all. I also find that vanilla yields itself best to other flavors, so I'd have the freedom to move in any direction from there. I started my KitchenAid mixing on the viscous batter, and so began the whirring that was sure to go on for days! I chose a pound cake recipe for its simplicity and it's texture. The more dense the crumb, the easier it'll be to slice into layers and pieces.

Whip up the batter, transfer to a deep and wide baking sheet, and send it to the oven until the edges are beginning to golden and the entire sheet is firm. The perfect way to concoct a truly special dish is to superimpose many simple processes and techniques in artful applications. So I set my cake to the side for cooling and trudged on to the icing.

Exceptionally delicious and sinfully straightforward, vanilla buttercream is whipped to textural perfection and can practically be eaten on anything. A tang of vanilla, a kick of powdered sugar, boatloads of butter, a dash of whipping cream, and you're on your way to a frosting that is not only fluffy and light but decadent and rich.

The only tedious act in making frosting is the addition of the powdered sugar, and seemingly endless whipping, but a mixer makes even that task seem effortless. I advise making a ton (more than you think you'll need) and repurposing it for different items. For this event, I knew I'd be low on time and energy at the end of the day, so I chose to use the same buttercream in my petit fours and to top my cupcakes. More on those later.

Buttercream whipped and pound cake cooled, I set out to form my petit fours. I sliced the sheet cake into six even rectangles, then split each portion into two layers. Now this is the only part of making these that's truly very tricky! Your best bet is a very long, serrated knife that can cut through the pound cake like butter (accurate because there is a lot of butter in my pound cake). Taking the layers and carefully stacking them up, I set out to assemble.

Cake, raspberry jam (I like it because it's both sweet and tart, pairing perfectly with the vanilla), cake, buttercream, cake. What a stack?! Did I include that each layer of cake is brushed thoroughly with simple syrup? Additional sweetness that keeps the cake extra moist too, a double win!

See what resplendent results you have- and all you've done is put things on top of one another. Simply proof that seemingly meaningless intermediary steps add up to something truly beautiful. You want to cover these and let them rest in the freezer for a LONG time. Like I'm talking hours upon hours. It's imperative that they are firm before you portion out the squares, or your delicate layering will be for naught as the tiers begin to slide. Rock solid rectangles, a ruler, and a sharp knife later and you're probably thinking you're done.

While these babies are on the verge of being finished, some of the most crucial work comes next. Also peep the photos to see that they are indeed, not uniform or perfect, just really cute. To follow another trip to the freezer, I made a pourable fondant that adds a haphazard glaze and shiny finish. Tips for this process: it's going to be messy, the fondant has to be kept hot while pouring, and just ladle or drizzle the liquid over the top for an unfussy look (and to make it easier on yourself). And there you have it! Serve them as is, or like me, prepare a formal garnish for just prior to serving time.

Enough with the petit fours, on to macarons of the French variety! One way I really like to honor the people I'm cooking for is to lace their treats with sentimentality and to show them that I remember lots of little details about who they are. In this case, sweet Jessie had studied a summer abroad in Italy, captivated by the culture and the beauty of the place and its traditions. In a subtle nod to this, I determined that the macarons would be tiramisu flavored.

Off to the mixer I ran again, ready to pull together an airy meringue of egg whites, vanilla, cream of tartar, and sugar. It's phenomenal how drastically the mixture evolves with only some time and high-powered whipping. The color now glossy and the texture that of soft peaks, it was time to add the flour mixture. Naturally, I had already measured the almond flour, sifted it religiously, and whisked it with some other things. Mise en place, always! I added some instant espresso powder to the dry ingredients to give just a hint of tiramisu.

Precisely 60 folds of the spatula later, and the batter was prime for piping. With my bag in hand, I traced miniature circle shapes all over the likes of about four baking sheets lined with silpat mats.

Though jolting and loud, you have to slam the trays against the counter (several times) in order to rid your rounds of any air bubbles. Then set them aside and leave them be for half an hour or so. Once they've formed shells on top, they're ready for the oven.

One of my very favorite parts about the process of macarons is watching their feet rise as they bake! This is when you know you've folded and rested properly- they grow sky high with a smooth top and those lovely little ruffles at the bottom (aka feet). It's also important to remember that these little guys need their time to cool, completely undisturbed or you risk breaking their pristinely flat bottoms.

Macarons are precision, delicacy, intricacy in action. They take patience, a steady hand, and an informed eye. They're absolutely proof that homely things can, when treated properly, blossom into a gorgeous finish!

For the filling of these, mascarpone was a must. The mild cheese is native to Italia (take me back), and can take on a sweet quality when paired with the right things. It's not overpowering, but gives a creamy depth to the dish. A dollop of frosting and the miniature confections are ready to be sandwiched together. I'll also talk about garnishing these later, though they're totally precious as-is.

Finally, the cupcakes. Keeping with my theme of small bites, and knowing I could get more cakes out of each batch, I resolved to make these miniature as well. To appease all of the chocolate lovers out there, I also decided they would be the darkest, moistest, and most delicious velvety flavor.

The recipe on these was also very simple (sensing a trend here?). I always like to stick to tried and true recipes that I can count on when gearing up for a big event. It minimizes the risk that something won't turn out or that I'll have trouble with the recipe. Daring culinary feats I usually save for small groups of close friends or family.

Chopping chocolate, measuring ingredients, mixing the wet before adding the dry, the whole bit. Pop adorable mini liners into your tray, spoon in some batter, and you've got the go ahead for the oven. In this specific instance, I baked the cakes but didn't add the icing until after the travel was over (same with all of the other sweets). Icing and long car rides don't typically get along without spillage or destruction. And besides, the fresher, the better.

With the conclusion of the cupcakes, I could get on the road. Yes, I did bake excessive amounts of dessert and then set out on a four hour drive. No, I am not insane. I kept the travel component in mind as I baked, making this a little more moist and refraining from decorating that to avoid mishaps. I even made a double batch of buttercream to transport in a container. The keys to keeping it all fresh were airtight packaging and maintaining a consistent temperature. Tupperware, an ice chest, and a bag of ice made this possible.

I also packed a tote with all of the ingredients and utensils needed to complete the presentation. This held everything from dried rose petals to my piping set to a canister of chocolate cookies. You know me, never unprepared.

Long story short, I made it to Dallas with everything intact. Just prior to the party, formal platters were filled and additions made to each treat.

The petit fours were adorned with a swirl of fluffy icing, a bright and fresh raspberry, and three iridescent pearl sprinkles each. Sharing space, half the macarons received their own buttercream cloud and were showered in edible rose petals. The other half had a drizzle of chocolate ribbons and were garnished by mint (and incidentally were enjoyed before I was able to snag any photos).

As for the cupcakes, they truly became glamorous in their own right. A mountain of buttercream, dusted with wisps of shaved chocolate, and pierced by a rolled cookie. What more could you ask for?

The day was one overflowing with emotion. Joy abounded, excitement popped, and so much life was evident. From Jessie's utter shock to Jake's hilarious re-enactment of the proposal, it was clear that there was nowhere else they'd rather be. This is a couple I adore, tying together two friendships that I cherish. I'd bake for them any day, and was honored to have a part in their party! To Jessie & Jake, the ever photogenic and sweetest couple!

{Epicurean Engagement}

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