Graduation Party Dessert Ideas
Need some easy ideas for your upcoming graduation celebration (or really any party for that matter)? I am sharing some Graduation Party Dessert Ideas that we will be snacking on for my daughter’s graduation celebration.
It is graduation season and with graduations come graduation parties and graduation celebrations…they go hand in hand. And while I love throwing a good party, I’m also about keeping it simple on the day of.
We will be having a small graduation celebration, mostly family traveling from out of town and a few of Kate’s friends. But we did feel like we needed to organize something to celebrate the grad and give the opportunity for friends and family to mingle and catch up.
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We are having a local deli provide some basic savory food, but I figured I could handle putting together a small dessert bar. I did a little baking and a little shopping and am happy with the graduation party dessert ideas that feature her school colors of Carolina Blue and White.
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Graduation Party Dessert Ideas:
Carolina Blue and White Macarons can be made ahead.
I’m still all about macarons, which can be colored for a festive touch. In this case, I used my go-to macaron recipe which I colored with Wilton’s Cornflower Blue, Sky Blue and White in a 2:1:1 ratio to get close to the Carolina Blue color. I used a little less than 1/8 tsp of the Cornflower Blue to color the macarons and based the other two off of that. A simple, vanilla buttercream fills the blue shells, perfecting the blue/white combo. Macarons are something that can be made ahead and actually get better with a little age, as the filling melds with the shells.
If you’d rather purchase your macarons, I am sure you will be able to order them in colors that you need for your dessert bar from your local bakery
I found these plastic containers at Paper Mart which are perfect for guests to take some macarons home with them. These tubes come in a variety of diameters and lengths and are perfect for sending your guests home with wee party favors containing any number of treats.
And holy cow, if you are planning a party of any type, you really need to make a stop at Paper Mart, they seem everything you need for a party, gift giving or packaging.
Dyed Sprinkles and Jimmies add school colors to our dessert bar
Did you know you could dye sprinkles, jimmies, and decorative sugar?
Put your white sprinkles in a ziplock bag, add some gel food coloring and ‘massage’ the food coloring into the sprinkles. Once you get the color you like, put them on a paper towel and let them dry. I also put mine in my Breville Smart Oven on the dehydrator setting, at the lowest temp, which helped to speed the drying process.
Fancy Sweet and Salty Popcorn is an easy, but oh-so-addictive addition to our party desserts!
I popped some grocery store brand salted popcorn, tossed it with some melted white chocolate and then sprinkled my newly dyed blue sprinkles and jimmies over for this crazy addictive sweet/salty treat. I hate to call this a ‘recipe’ because it is so incredibly simple, but nevertheless, here it is. For best results, toss this together quickly the day of.
Fancy Sweet and Salty Popcorn
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 popped bags of 3.5-ounce packets of popcorn
- 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips
- 3 teaspoons shortening or coconut oil
- Sprinkles and jimmies
Instructions
- Pop the popcorn according to the package directions
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave at 30-second intervals. Once the chocolate is melted, add the shortening and stir until combined.
- Place the popcorn into a wide bowl and pour the white chocolate over, stirring to distribute the white chocolate over most of the popcorn.
- While the white chocolate is still liquid and sticky, add the jimmies/sprinkles and toss to distribute over all the popcorn.
- When cool, place popcorn into airtight containers and store at room temperature until needed.
Notes
Nutrition
M & Ms add more color to our dessert bar
Finally blue and white M & Ms fill an apothecary jar on the dessert bar; guests can enjoy the treat at the party or put some in one of the plastic containers to take home.
Gluing the ribbon on the lids and applying the labels is a great, mindless, sit in front of the TV task!
This simple, yet colorful ‘petite’ dessert bar is the perfect sweet ending to our Graduation Celebration.
To refer back to these Graduation Party Dessert Ideas, bookmark this page or pin the following image for your future reference.
Need gift ideas for the High School graduate?
Want more ideas for your Graduation Party? Graduation Party Food and Decor Ideas Here.
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Hugs,
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Wow I love the way you colored everything to match exactly. It’s all so pretty. Those containers a perfect size and shape. I find it hard to find containers that aren’t too large or really tiny. Good to know that Paper Mart carries them. Congratulations. I’m sure everyone is going to love the celebration and make many wonderful memories.
Hi Patti…they have so many fantastic sizes…truly something for every need. We are looking forward to a fun, but relaxed celebration! I’ll take pics.
Hugs,
Lynn
I just love those tubes! Especially the macaron tubes. I clicked over to take a look and I am astounded at the prices and the selection! Bookmarked their page!
I know! A real deal! I am excited to have them on hand for other food items as well…noodling all sorts of ways to use them.
This is such a cool idea! Love those little containers, they are perfect!
Thanks Sarah, you will be hosting graduation parties before you know it!
Lynn! These are so cute and I love them! All the blue is adorable and completely easy to make… such a great idea.
Thanks Betsy…other than the macarons, it really is easy. And you could just order the macarons!
You are such a great mom! I love the idea of a dessert bar and taking a treat home. The popcorn sounds delish and I am here for the macarons.
Aw thanks. Something like this is really simple and luckily she has ‘good colors. 😊 But yeah, the macarons are where it is at!