Thursday, August 23, 2007

Twelve Cheesecakes and a Wedding

I mentioned last month that I was working on some cheesecakes for an upcoming wedding. Well, the blessed event was last weekend and the cheesecakes turned out wonderfully. The bride and her mother and I worked together one day to out twelve cheesecakes in four varieties: Lemon Raspberry, Peach Gingersnap, Chocolate Mint Truffle, and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. We froze the cheesecakes that night and didn't defrost them until the evening of the wedding reception. In the couple of days before the wedding, I made Raspberry Sauce, Lemon Curd, Peach Glaze, and Dark Chocolate Ganache for garnishing our creations. I also discovered, while making a double batch of lemon curd at 11pm, that it is possible to scorch lemon curd. I've made it countless times before without a problem, but had to scrap the entire batch, get new ingredients, and start over in the morning.
Anyway, the garden reception was just lovely. The colors were black and white and they had even invited the guests to wear black and white, so it was gorgeous. They had a live jazz band performing twinkle lights everywhere, lots of yummy finger foods at the buffet and a "chick salad" (as they're called at my house) that was to die for, plus our cheesecakes. I got there before the reception started and managed to snap a couple of photos of the bride with her four sisters (aren't they gorgeous?)
When I checked in with the bride at one point and asked her how her day was going and she said, "I just can't stop smiling!" and I remembered feeling that exact same way on my wedding day. Her dress was lovely. She designed it herself and had it made. Living proof that you can have a gorgeous, stylish wedding gown that is still modest.
My sister came with me to help me plate the cheesecakes (why didn't I get a picture of any of them plated??) and it was so nice to have her there with me--I think working together with my sister and Mom in those situations helps me not to stress out, something that I can do when working alone or even with other people who don't know how to read my mind. Aren't sisters wonderful?
I am going to start posting recipes in separate posts so that they are easier to find later, so I'll post those truffle cheesecake recipes soon. Right now I need to go pick up kids at school.

9 comments:

Super Kimmie said...

Michal - Wow! The cheesecakes are beautiful. Hmm - you should do this more often.

Michal said...

i guess you had to read my older post to know that someone else did the fondant and ribbons. i am not very experienced with fondant. i think that this will spur me on to get more comfortable with the stuff. but thanks for the compliment, even if it isn't deserved.

Rebecca said...

Gorgeous cakes! You are an amazing cook...I remember you threw me a baby shower for Noah and made cheesecake. It was delicious. I'll bet the bride appreciated your talents very much.

Michal said...

rebecca,
i think that your baby shower may have been one of my first attempts at cheesecake.
thanks for the compliments. i guess i love to cook because i love to eat good food and i'm too much of a control freak to trust anyone else to do it right!

Unknown said...

Awesome Cheesecakes! You really are quite talented!

The recipes should to die for!

Anonymous said...

We had fun plating the frozen cheesecakes and trying to keep them looking elegant. I think that I even built up a little extra muscle tone trying to hack through some of them.
By the way,I made my first cheesecake last night for Flint's birthday. It was not as hard as I thought it would be, but it also did not turn out a beautifully as Michal's did. I may just add some fondant to cover up my mistakes.
(That is the easy part.)

lemon square said...

hey michal- my dad sent me a link to your blog- those wedding cakes were awesome! i have to admit i missed the peach gingersnap so i'll have to try my hand at making one myself but i did try the other three. that chocolate raspberry was to die for!

lydia, sister of the bride

Anonymous said...

"Let them eat (CHEESE)cake!"
Probably a miss quote.
Alli's B-cake was delicious!
She has learned from the master.
Love,
Papa

Michal said...

alli's cheesecake was delicious. she has already mastered the dish.
i am so blessed to have a father-in-law for my biggest fan! thanks, dad!