Sweet savoir vivre. How do you eat desserts? (2024)

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Cutlery from the Colombina collection is not only practical but also exceptionally elegant.

Forks and spoons - dessert cutlery

When you start eating a delicious dessert, the first nut to crack (and we don't mean peanut cookies here) is... cutlery. Eating a cookie seems trivially simple, but before you go into action, you have to make a difficult choice: how to eat it? Unfortunately, you can't always just grab it in your hand and eat it this way. Fortunately, you have us, and we'll be happy to explain to you everything!

Among dessert cutlery, you can find:

• dessert spoons;
• ice cream teaspoons - they're often distinguished by their long handle or a spatula-shaped tip;
• dessert forks - smaller and narrower than a table fork, they are also suitable for appetisers;
• dessert knives, also used for appetisers.

I'm sure your eyebrows went up at the last point. Why do you need a knife to eat dessert? What sweets you should eat with a knife and fork will be explained later.

Rules of eating desserts

Let's start with some basic rules to follow.

• If there is only one type of a dessert being served, you don't have to think about the choice of cutlery! You'll find them for sure, because they should be a part of the table setting. Reach for a spoon or a fork that is placed above the plate.
• Cutlery is supposed to make it easier for us to eat and make the dish taste as good as possible - so if you are more comfortable eating a cake, for example, with a spoon, even though it is traditionally eaten with a fork, be guided by your comfort. The rules are there to break them after all! ;-)
• Once you touch a fork or a spoon, you should no longer put it back on the table. So do not lean it against the edge of the dessert plate or put it next to the plate, leave it on the plate instead.

How to eat and serve ice cream?

Depending on what ice cream is served, it is eaten with different cutlery. Ice cream in scoops can be served in different ways:

• in ice cream goblets,
• in drink glasses,
• on a flat plate.

To get beautiful, round balls of ice cream, we recommend using special ice cream spoons. The scoops will be professionally shaped like at the best ice cream parlour!

Ice cream in goblets

Ice cream in goblets or, for example, in a martini glass looks beautiful and appetizing, and what is important, it melts more slowly. This kind of ice cream has another important advantage - it is easier to eat it! It is enough to eat ice cream served in a goblet or a glass with a help of an ice cream spoon. A long co*cktail spoon will also do the trick.

Ice cream on a plate

It is different when the ice cream is served on a flat plate. This way, on the other hand, allows us for a more artistic and sophisticated presentation of dessert, but it also has drawbacks - the ice cream melts faster and it is more difficult to put it on a spoon, so... We can use both a spoon and a fork to eat. The fork here is a helping cutlery to put ice cream on a teaspoon and you're not meant to put it inside your mouth.

Check all our ice cream accessories.

With a fork or a spoon?

This is the most common question asked when we want to eat a cake. The answer is simple: we use a fork for layered cakes and cakes with a little cream - it is just more convenient. As previously mentioned, we use a fork for layered cakes, however if they contain a lot of fruit - then you reach for a spoon. On the other hand, a dessert with a less compact consistency, e.g. a pudding, a lot of cream or whipped cream, requires the use of a spoon.

A fork or a spoon

What about Napoleonka cake and other cakes with a compact bottom and a large layer of cream? They should be eaten with a fork and spoon. We eat the cake itself with a fork and we use a teaspoon to eat the cream. What is important, both of these cutlery should be held alternately in the right hand, so after a bite of cream we should put aside a spoon and eat the cake layers with a fork. An apple pie with ice cream should be eaten in a similar way, using a fork to eat the cake and a spoon to eat ice cream. If you find this solution impractical, we agree completely! After all, the pleasure of eating cakes with toppings is in tasting all the ingredients together. But let's remember that the savoir-vivre rules are meant for us, not the other way around, so... eat as you please.

Knife and fork

There is one more thing to explain - why would you need a knife among dessert cutlery? Because we eat donuts with a knife and a fork in the same way as we eat, for example, a steak. Here, savoir-vivre is one thing, and the tradition is the other, because after all, who does not like their fingers covered with icing after eating a donut?

Can you eat desserts with your hands?

You might be surprised, but... yes, you can! Of course not all of them, but pound or yeast cakes without cream can be torn off with your hands and eaten piece by piece, just like bread. And everything gets easier right away. ;-)