Samantha and Bart's Wedding Cake

In October 2013 our dear friends here in the Netherlands were getting married and asked me to make their wedding cake.

The bride choose colors of white and gold and I began to research how to use edible gold. A place in the UK sells gold both in transfer sheet and loose leaf form, so I decided to try both in 23 and 24 carat. After making the floral design based on the wedding invitations, I attempted to apply gold directly to smoothed chilled buttercream icing- and as a bonus this test cake was made up of 8 versions for the bride and groom to have a cake tasting.

The easiest version to work for me with was the 23ct 80x80 transfer sheets. Since the gold is affixed to paper, it is simple to trace the pattern onto the paper (use your pattern correct side up- the other side will go directly onto the cake), cut with scissors, and apply, soaking the paper side with either water or vodka (dries quicker) using a brush.  Leaving a small piece of paper that is bigger than the pattern for you to hold onto helps with removal of the paper. Maybe you are wondering if you can 'taste' or notice texture of the gold- definitely not. It is thinner than paper and has no flavor or texture, and as it is actual real gold, which is fairly inert, it passes right through the body. It is an edible additive, listed in the EU as an ingredient: E175.

For the first time I was creating a four-tiered cake, and using a brand new (a gift from the bride & groom!) 12" cake pan for the bottom layer. Of course I had to make a test cake of the bottom tier - and luckily my friend Viktorija's birthday at the end of September was perfect timing.

Above you can see the wedding invitation next to the test cake. Because this process results in some cracking of the gold on the buttercream, I piped white outlines on top of the gold, both for three dimensional effect and to disguise the cracks. Using a floral design works well for this because nature has irregular aspects, allowing the imperfections to contribute to the naturalness. 

The bride and groom choose the flavor of strawberries and cream over the other filling options: lemon cream, chocolate ganache, and vanilla buttercream. I used my basic buttercream for the icing on the outside of the cake, ensuring a smooth finish and worry free sitting at room temperature for hours before being served. Below: the bride, her cake, and me (even the wallpaper matched the theme!) 

The experience of creating a wedding cake for dear friends was both stressful and wonderful, and made me so happy to see their joyful faces and hear the compliments from the guests on the taste. Doing two different test cakes and cutting all the flowers ahead of time made it possible for me to create the (unstacked) wedding cake in one day. Preparation and my fabulous mother babysitting my children was the reason this could happen.

Thanks, Mom! You are the best!

Thanks to my husband for his photographs. We enjoyed every minute of this amazing event and I felt both fortunate and blessed to be a part of it. Samantha and Bart, we wish you all the best in marriage and life!

For more pictures from the wedding, Click here for the photographer's photos (The second photo is me adding the final borders to the cake and further down you see Dina helping with the rings.) 

Samantha's Bridal Shower

 Our dear friends here in The Netherlands, Samantha and Bart, got married last year and I threw Sam a bridal shower. It was a daytime event, on a Sunday, giving me ample cooking/decorating time on Saturday. Sam, herself, created the wedding banner of gold, silver, cream, and white tassels.

The menu plan included several varieties of quiche, tea sandwiches, a cheese board with olives, peppers and crackers, salad, berry cobbler, cannolies, mini-cupcakes, and Prosecco with peach juice and sliced frozen peach garnishes.

I developed this quiche recipe because I had tried many recipes that resulted in soggy centers. It is enough for one 9" normal pie plate, or with extra filling it can be stretched to a deep dish 9" pie. For the shower I made 1.5 times the recipe to fill 8 mini quiches.

Broccoli, Feta, and Leek Quiche
(makes enough for a 9" pie-  3 cups of liquid)
(Other combinations of veggies follow below:)

Ingredients:
1 pre-baked crust (recipe follows)
5 large eggs, beaten
300 ml  heavy cream (1 1/4 cups)
125 g cooked chopped leeks (about 1 cup, I use 2 leeks, white part only, saute in oil)
200 g feta cheese, crumbled (7.5 oz)
188 g chopped broccoli, parboiled (6.5 oz)
salt to taste (1/4 tsp?)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C. Beat eggs with cream. Place cheese on the bottom of the pre-baked crust, then leeks and broccoli. Cover with beaten egg/cream mixture. Salt to taste.
Bake for 20-30 minutes or until barely jiggles in the middle. After 10 minutes of baking, use a crust shield to prevent burning of the crust.
Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve next day, warm each piece on a plate in oven for 5 to 8 min.

Crust Recipe (modified from Joy of Cooking) Makes one 9" pie crust.

Ingredients:
150 g all purpose flour (1 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
250 g butter, cut into small pieces, cold (best to be in freezer but refrigerator is fine if you are fast)
75-120 ml cold water (1/3 to 1/2 cup)

Directions:
I keep my flour in the freezer and it works great for this recipe, because the ingredients should be as cold as possible. In a food processor, process flour, salt, and sugar until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water, minimum amount and process in five 1 second intervals. Pinch mixture in fingers and see if it sticks together. If not, add more water, a little at a time, until crust sticks together. Place cling-film on counter and place crust crumbs onto cling film. Using edges of film, shape into a disc and wrap tightly with the film. Place in fridge for 1 hour or overnight and then bring out of fridge for about 5 minutes to bring temperature up. Roll into a disc, place into pie plate and trim overhang. Line with foil and place pie weights or dried beans into foil. Bake at 425F/218C for 22 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 10' before removing pie weights/foil. Pre-baked crust is now ready for quiche recipe above.

For the quiche fillings at the shower I opted for the following combinations:
Tomato, Basil, & Feta
Shallots(cooked), Bell Peppers, & Dutch cheese
Bacon, Cheddar, & Chives
Bacon, Cheddar, & Thyme

Sam also provided the gorgeous Anthropologie plates for the setting.

The sandwiches served were classic crusts-cut-off and included:
Cucumber
Turkey, Cheddar, & Tomato Pesto
BLTs
Dutch cheese - I use Jong Belegen, which is ripened 8-10 weeks. While this is typically not available in the USA, the Oud, or Old version, Old Amsterdam (or something similar) can be found at my favorite grocery store, Wegmans. The difference is the older cheese is more flavorful, saltier and harder- better for eating with crackers, for example. The younger version of this cheese is perfect for a sandwich. We can't find Muenster or Colby Jack or Provolone cheese here but the Jong Belegen is fabulous for our typical lunch.

 I made berry cobblers and cannolies for dessert along with mini cupcakes in both gold and white wrappers.

The cannoli-filling recipe was from my Godmother and included a brilliant tip to remove the excess water in the creamy-mixture. Poke holes in a plastic lid and place it in the bottom of the bowl. Add your mixture and then let it sit overnight in the fridge. The excess water drains out under the lid!

The filling for these was amazing. Due to time constraints I decided to buy pre-made cannoli shells (imported from Italy!) but I was disappointed with the quality. Next time, I make my own and once I've got a good one, I'll share the recipe.

Once Sam had opened her gifts we made a 'bow-quet' from the bows on the gifts, using a paper plate as the base. She used this on her rehearsal day to walk down the aisle. I had never heard of this tradition until I got married and my friends did this for me.

 Mini-orchids in white candle-holders were the favors for the attendees. And we made a 'quiz-night' style set of pictures of Sam and Bart (and things related to them) for people to guess where or when the photos were taken as one of the games.

Congratulations to Samantha and Bart! Up next: their wedding cake!