A Snack Tree Is Your Secret Weapon For Serving A Crowd Of People

The snacks sitting in the corner of the room can be your secret weapon to a successful, lively party — but only if they're done right. This starts with excellent food quality and ends with an impressive presentation. Too often, we focus too much on the first part and leave the second lackluster, so delicious food is forgotten on idle trays and platters. But this doesn't have to be the case, especially not when you can easily put together a snack tree and bless the feast with an edible, conversation-starting centerpiece.

An entire tree of snacks and appetizers sounds like a lot of tedious work, but it's actually way simpler than it looks. Just wrap a Styrofoam cone in aluminum foil or cling film, skewer the food onto toothpicks, stick them on the cone, and there you have it: A colorful food tree that's sure to be the center of attention. Plucking snacks out of this "tree" is quite a unique party experience, and one your guests will no doubt delight in.

Moreover, the vertical set-up not only saves space but also keeps your snack spread looking neat. No more smudged hummus bowls or piles of abandoned celery sticks. The tree stays pristine, even as it's devoured. Guests can pluck a skewer, grab a pastry, maybe give it a quick dip, and be on their merry way to the table.

A snack tree could just be a haphazard collection of your go-to snacks. For a casual party or get-together, load it up with mini sausages, cheese balls, tater tots, and bacon bites. Hosting a brunch and want a light start to the meal? Try tiny muffins, biscuit stacks, fruit skewers (which you can even soak in wine for a boozy appetizer), and any bite-sized treat you'd typically bring to the table. At the foot, you can arrange a couple of different dips to cater to different palates, or perhaps crackers to fill out the bites.

Not only that, the tree can also be curated to match your party's theme. At Christmas, for example, use red and green ingredients such as red peppers, olives, pickles, and cured meat so it resembles a Christmas tree. You can even lace a few fresh sprigs of rosemary and cranberries in between to mimic the tinsels and baubles, as well as put a star-shaped cheese on top. Serve it alongside pigs in a blanket or a pull-apart pastry wreath and your holiday celebration is off to a memorable start.

If you're aiming for an Italian-cuisine-inspired meal, an antipasto tree is full of potential. Much like a regular antipasto charcuterie platter, it also features cured meat, cheese-stuffed olives, cherry tomatoes, etc. Got a sweet tooth instead? Well, champagne-soaked strawberries, sugared donuts, and truffle chocolate all make for a pretty indulgent dessert tree.