A feast so bountiful that the table boards groaned under the weight was the goal of every colonial hostess, especially during the holidays. And a beautifully decorated table was the focal point of every feast . . . The 18th century marked a period in history when the table became more exciting and elaborate visually, with new serving dishes such as sauceboats and tureens to present the new recipes. For the first time, the dining room became a clearly defined space in the home dedicated to one particular purpose—serving and enjoying food, along with all the fanfare that can accompany it.
A good hostess concentrated on creating an eye-catching centerpiece arrangement. Sometimes it would be a whole Asian scene complete with a pagoda. Many were edible. Gardens, architecture, and pastoral scenes were evoked first in sugar and then in porcelain. With neoclassical style in fashion, the table setting also had to be balanced and symmetrical. A large household might hire a confectioner whose sole task was to prepare the sugar sculptures for dessert. The homes of lesser aristocrats in England would employ independent chefs. The hostess aimed to astonish guests with the originality of her table’s centerpiece, which could move her up another rung on the social ladder.
Fresh flowers were considered too “countrified” for a fashionable centerpiece, so dessert pyramids often took center stage. Dessert pyramids were originally a careful stacking of fruits and other treats to be eaten at the end of a meal. Over time, they evolved into a purely decorative centerpiece. The most coveted “crown” for this pyramid would be a pineapple—the ultimate symbol of prestige and welcome, sure to impress even the most worldly of guests, with its exotic flavor, rare appearance, and high price tag.
Such excesses sometimes overwhelmed the guests; for example, the dessert table prepared by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, as described by William Farington in 1756:
After a very Elligant Dinner of a great many dishes . . . The Table was Prepar'd for Dessert which was a Beautiful Park, round the Edge was a Plantation of Flowering Shrubs, and in the middle a Fine piece of water with Dolphins Spouting out water, and Deer dispersed Irregularly over the Lawn, on the Edge of the Table was all Iced Creams, and wet and dried Sweetmeats, it was such a Piece of work it was all left on the Table till we went to Coffee.