Wedding Dessert Buffet

This past Saturday was showtime for a wedding dessert buffet I have been planning for quite some time.

It was way back in February that I promised to make the desserts for the wedding of my daughter Eleanor's beloved middle-school math teacher, Ms. Bennett. Throughout the school year we tested and tasted recipes with Eleanor acting as my dessert delivery girl.

Desserts that made the final menu were sugar cookies, Oreo truffles, tirimisu, coconut and dark chocolate French macarons, berry bars and three kinds of mini cheese cake. All of the desserts except for the berry bars needed to be kept chilled, especially in the summer heat.

Fortunately for me, my friend Cindy and my sister Ursula came to the rescue by letting me keep treats in their refrigerators until the event. During transport in the hot car, I had the air conditioner on high and basically just prayed that things wouldn't melt.

Once at the venue, I had a small kitchen to work in and a fridge in which I just kept alternating keeping the desserts cold until it was time to present them. My daughter Eleanor was such a big help to me.  

When a dessert disappeared from the buffet, Eleanor quickly replaced it so that throughout the event the display was always full and beautiful.

I am so pleased with how things turned out and it was wonderful to be a part of Ms. Bennett's special day. It was hard work but also exciting and something Eleanor and I will always remember tackling together.

Three bowls of macarons.

Macaron close-up.

The sugar cookies packed and ready for transport.

There was a cute little spoon in each cup of tirimisu. Of all the desserts, this was the easiest to make and serve.

I wrapped each berry bar with a strip of natural parchment and baker's twine.

Making the Oreo truffles. This was the dessert that was the most difficult to deal with in the heat. Chocolate doesn't like to be above 70 degrees. When it's hot, it's essential to get them straight into the fridge to set up after a quick dip in melted chocolate.

The three cheesecake flavors were chocolate/peanut butter cup, lemon curd/raspberry and strawberry.

Planning Another Wedding Cake

Sketching and planning the cake.

My friend and fellow Wednesday Community Meal volunteer Jeff is getting married later this month and I have the privilege of making the wedding cake.

He and his fiance are so nice and very easy going. I'm going to make a four-tiered cake and a two layer 14-inch cake and decorate them with fresh flowers. This past Tuesday, I put in my order for the flowers (roses, dahlias and mums) at my neighborhood florist.

Last month, the couple chose a few cake flavors to taste and decided upon pumpkin cake filled with dark chocolate ganache and cream cheese frosting. I teased Jeff that pumpkin was more suited for a Fall wedding but he said, "I don't care. We like pumpkin."

Jeff's right. The bride and groom should get what they want and I have to admit, the combination of cinnamon spiced pumpkin and dark chocolate was pretty great and the pumpkin made the cake super moist. Jeff did agree that the extra 14-inch cake should be vanilla raspberry as another option.

My mission is to please the bride and groom.