An Introduction to Party Trays
Basically, any kind of food arranged on a tray can be considered as a party tray regardless of whether it is a piece of fruit, chopped vegetables or sweet desserts. What does matter though is the party you are currently catering for. As you can imagine, important occasions like baby showers would require different kind of Hors d'œuvres as compared to party trays served at sporting events. Best of all, these trays add class and panache to a party without the extra cost. You would be suprised on what a difference 'arranged food' can make to your party. First of all, having a properly arranged food platter can really save space on your party dining area. Besides being pretty to look at, it can also serve as part of your overall party decoration theme. You can always make or purchase party trays that match your theme, or vice versa. There are many ways that you can decide on the type of party food that you should make or buy. You can choose party platters that are meant to be shared, or you can even make individual party platters for each gusts. The possibilities are just endless, borded just by your whim and imagination.
Fruit Based Trays
Fruit party trays are appetizing and are naturally colourful. Popular fruit added on these kind of trays include kiwi, mango, pineapple, papaya, strawberries, melon and grapes. Exercise extra caution when you use fruits like pears or apples as both of these fruits brown easily, which will make the entire tray look expired.
Having said that, there are party trays that contain apples and fruits as the secret to maintaining the fresh flesh is to sprinkle the fruit with lemon juice. Pair your fruit with chocolate and marshmallows for added sweetness.
Vegetable Based Trays
Another great alternative to fruit is using vegetables, which unlike fruit, can be prepared one day before the party. Vegetable party trays are especially useful in balancing out the rest of your menu, particularly if everything else that's edible is either fried or piled with plenty of cheese.
Vegetable party trays usually contain a healthy helping of broccoli, carrots, radish, celery, cauliflower, peppers and cherry tomatoes. These ingredients work incredibly well at whetting the appetite when it is paired with ranch or French onion dip. Don't forget to include a spoon in your dip bowl as well to prevent your guests from double dipping.
Dessert Based Tray
Dessert party trays are convenient, especially when you aren't too sure if your guests will be too full to sample sweets. Small pieced items such as petit fours, mini cupcakes and baklava make great pieces on dessert trays. Since desserts tend to be overly sweet, make sure that you cut the treats down to bite size morsels so that your guests can sample as many dessert items as they can without feeling nauseous.
Meat and Cheese Based Tray
Party trays made from meat and cheese is arguably the most popular and also the easiest to assemble. All you really need is to arrange both light and dark meats plus a whole variety of cheeses on every tray.
Some hosts (or hostesses) prefer to pierce through alternate pieces of meat and cheese with a toothpick whereas others prefer to roll up the cheese and meat together. Like all great party trays, a meat and cheese party tray should also come with gourmet mustard or mayonnaise to further accentuate the taste. Like the vegetable based party tray, meat and cheese party trays can also be prepped at least one day before the party.
Olive Based Trays
Olives and cheese make great party trays as this combination looks expensive, unique and very classy. To prepare party trays filled with olives, simply arrange store-bought olives such as kalamata, black olives and green olives and pair them with a selection of cheese. Alternatively, you could also drop by your local deli and get large green olives that are pre-stuffed with garlic, blue cheese and jalapenos.
Another interesting selection would be olives paired with pickled vegetables, which are party trays fit for Mediterranean-themed parties. You can also add thin crackers with a spread of olive tapenade to further extend the olive theme on your party trays as well.
Exotic Based Trays
If all of the above seems like they have all been tried and tested before, consider astounding your party guests with exotic bites of food placed on trays. We highly recommend going for Italian food such as fresh mozzarella cheese combined with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. Complete this heavenly combination with sweet balsamic vinegar as a form of dip as well.
Another interesting Italian delicacy would be creating a ball of honeydew melon which is then wrapped around with salty prosciutto and finished with a squeeze of fresh lime. When in doubt, you could also go for the safe route and simple prep spicy salami with Parmigiano-Reggiano for an Italian based appetizer minus the problem of sourcing for your ingredients.
Creamy Based Trays
Cheese goes well with anything, including meat and olives. This is simply because cheese on its own is already a delightful affair. Pair your favourite cheese with creamy pate, crispy crackers, earthy pumpernickel and French bread (thinly sliced, of course) to achieve the filling but content party tray. Creamy pate is easily made from a whole variety of ingredients such as duck liver, cognac, mushrooms and aspic.
When serving this kind of food, the compulsory cheese needed is Brie or Camembert as both of these ingredients are easily spread on to other surfaces like crackers. Alternatively, cheese also goes well with gherkins and pickled onions that are not exactly rare, but are often difficult to pair with.
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