Use Dried Pasta As Powdered Sugar Stencils For Pastry Designs

If you're looking to give a special touch to the powdery sugar decorations you have been dusting on top of bread and cakes, consider using pasta pieces. The dried shapes can be placed upon baked goods as stencils to make interesting designs with layers of cinnamon, cocoa powder, or confectioners' sugar. With more than 300 pasta shapes found around the world, you won't be lacking in decorating direction ever again. Creative culinary inspiration is hiding in plain sight.

From thin strips of spaghetti to the circular cutouts of rotelle and fiori pasta shapes, you'll have all the lines and shapes you need to place both unique and simple geometric patterns onto your kitchen creations. Easy and quick to place, pasta pieces can be rearranged and reset until you have the appearance that works for your intended dessert aesthetic, and your decorating thriftiness may inspire your dinner guests to try a similar approach with their home baking attempts.

Think outside the box when considering which pieces of pasta will do your baking projects justice. Unconventional pasta shapes can be lined up along the perimeter of your creations or placed delicately in the center of treats. Sheets of lasagna can cover more surface area, while smaller pieces of ditalini can help create textured appearances on smooth flourless chocolate cakes. A lone piece of farfalle can be set into the center of cupcakes to leave behind the impression of a pretty bow, or a series of bucatini can be positioned in rows or criss-cross patterns to create grids and structured designs.

If you're uncertain about what kind of shapes removed pasta will leave behind, experiment on parchment paper before transferring pieces onto your baked goods. Instead of having to worry about keeping a steady hand to pipe icing, simply use a sifter to create an even coat across the top of your treats and remove the pasta pieces to survey your work. An Instagram-worthy presentation will be left behind, and your resourceful decorative touches will look more complicated than the effort you put in.