Ina Garten’s Hack for Serving Restaurant-Style Cake Will Instantly Elevate Your Hosting Skills

Cory Fernandez
Cory FernandezAssociate Food Editor
Cory is a New York City–based associate editor at The Kitchn, who covers food trends, lifestyle, wine, liquor, spirits, food-related travel, and food features. Before working at The Kitchn, he worked as an editor at Food Network Magazine and was a contributor to The Pioneer…read more
published Dec 6, 2022
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Credit: Joe Lingeman

No one does show-stopping desserts and cakes quite like the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. Ina always seems to have a way of preparing special desserts, like her Beatty’s Chocolate Cake and her Boston Cream Pie Cake, in simple-yet-sophisticated ways.

The same can be said of Ina’s famous Coconut Cake, which is available for purchase on Gold Belly. In an Instagram video for the online food-focused marketplace, Ina discussed how she likes to serve a single slice of her Coconut Cake.

The technique is quite straightforward but instantly elevates a slice of homemade or even store-bought cake: Before plating your slice of cake, spread just a couple of spoonfuls of fruit jam in a circle on a small plate (using the back of the spoon), then lay the slice of cake on its side and garnish with a few fresh berries.

Not only does the jam add a pop of color to the presentation, but the tartness also pairs really well with a sweet cake — especially one with a coconut-flavored frosting. You could also use a mix-and-match approach. I like to use a couple of different types of jam with different types of cake (strawberry jam with chocolate cake, or blueberry jam with a lemon-flavored cake, for example).

In the video, Ina uses a raspberry sauce, although you can definitely use store-bought fruit jam and loosen it slightly by mixing in a bit of water. It’s a simple way to take a special dessert up a few notches and impress your guests during the holidays.