DESSERTS
Having Visual Fun with Cookies: Techniques for Building Stacks
Stacking can be a fun way to present some bakery prod-
ucts. Cookies, petit fours, small cakes, brownies, or other
baked pastries that are normally cut into squares can be
stacked for the camera when a square or vertical crop is
desired. Th e visual display of stacking can be made more
interesting by creating an off -balance look to a few of
the items within the stack. Th is is a good technique that
will cause the viewer to wonder “How in the world did
they do that?”Select hero pastry items for the stack. You will want to
have plenty of cookies or pastries available to achieve the
fi nal stack. I purchased three dozen cookies for our hero
shot. Because the items are handled during the building
process, and because they are impaled with toothpicks
and skewers, there is potential for breakage. Use stand-
ins to accomplish a rough build for the camera. Th e
stand-in can give you a good idea of where misalignment
of the elements within the stack would be appropriate
for visual interest. Building the stand-in stack will also
help you gain knowledge of how fragile the cookies or
pastries are. Use short pieces of toothpicks to connect all
the cookies or pastries in the stack.Before you place the top cookie or pastry on the stack,
pause to consider whether it is necessary to run a long
skewer all the way through the stack for stability. If your
arrangement is unstable, you might feel it’s necessary to
secure the entire stack. If so, practice the procedure with
a stand-in stack. Run a skewer all the way through the