Serving desserts in miniature form offers your patrons a little slice of decadence with a lot less guilt—thanks to a reduction in calories and cost. Shrinking portions and prices on dessert menus, helps many establishments encourage increased dessert sales. A small lift in sales-per-customer can provide substantial results to your bottom-line.

It’s easy to make the dessert trend work for your restaurant:

• Get creative with dessert plating—Showcase your dessert assortments by using an exciting selection of plating choices from shot glasses to showcase plates – tempt the eyes as well as the taste buds.

• Design a delightful dessert sampler — Take advantage of the fact that small, intense flavors are on the rise—and create an offering for your guests with three or four items that play on different colors, tastes, textures and temperatures.

• Showcase the petite sweets — Dramatically drape a high-top table and position it at the greeting stand to preview your collection of little bites. Let them anticipate (and easily make room for) the meal’s finale.

• Mix up mini-dessert offerings with prix-fixed offering—Feature a prix-fixe menu that includes a mini-dessert choice to complete the experience.

Let Cardinal inspire your dessert creations with a host of creative vessels that are perfect for your petite offerings. Contact us at:sales@cardinalglass.com

Test your Cardinal Newsletter/Website knowledge and put yourself in the winner’s circle. Just read, retain, and be among the first to respond. For this issue, the first five respondents who correctly answer the following three questions will receive a sweet $10 gift card to Cold Stone Creamery®. Winners can only win once in any 12-month period.

1. Which dessert glassware is a fit for serving dessert parfaits?
2. Name three glasses in the Chef & Sommelier Open Up Spirits collection.
3. True or False. Arcoroc Random can be used to serve desserts and appetizers.

Please send your responses to Janice.Douglas@arc-intl.com. Include your name, address and email. Winners will be notified by email.