British Cheese Crisis

[smitch Profile]

We had a bit of cheese left over but not a huge amount. We didn’t provide an evening buffet other than the cheese (we had a curry feast followed by ice cream for our afternoon meal). The company based the cheeses they sent on our guest numbers.

Likewise both sponge cake tiers were eaten, we just had some fruit cake left over. We didn’t have any additional evening guests and didn’t send out cake to anyone else either. We had a very casual low key wedding that would probably horrify traditionalists

[Earthmaiden Profile]

It sounds lovely - and that you have nice friends who appreciated the food!

Ha ha Sue! You could look at it like that but I thought it was a nice gesture. We had a very low key wedding and friends and elderly relatives dotted all over the place who sent good wishes but wouldn't have expected an invitation. It was expected that you sent cake if they had sent a card or gift and it gave me a lot of pleasure to box it up and send it, all part of the newly-wed ritual .
Cheese would have worked!

[herbidacious Profile]

I think all our cake was scoffed, hence me not getting to try it - in spite of it allegedly being dry MIL organized it. I have a nasty feeling it had that horrid, soft, roll on icing on it. It looked like a hat (unintentionally.) It was really rather small, thinking about it But we had a very generous booze allowance

Also had a modest wedding here... relatively speaking. What's the average cost now?! No bridesmaids, no 'disco' (but a string quartet before dinner...) certainly no tiered ceremony vs 'party' division. There were complaints, I gather than we didn't lay on transport to get from the church to the reception (it was a bit of a schlepp - 7 miles in London - but we didn't have the budget or, really, (me) having had no help with planning, the energy to organize it.)
Everyone seemed to have a great time (lots of wine, again...?!) Great venue - the surprisingly cheap UCL - the grand old entrance (never used as a student) and one of the (lecturers', I think) dining rooms. I bet they charge more now.

I've not had a good look at husband's birthday cheese yet. It went straight into a plastic bag and is in quarantine in the fridge. Do you need to quarantine it for longer if it's in the fridge?!

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Here’s a bit of dry cake with rock hard icing to remind you we don’t like you enough to invite you to the reception

that made me chuckle!
I don´t think we even cut the cake at our wedding. Since neither of us has a particularily sweet tooth, the cake stayed on its pedestal until my MIL devoured it. I think we would have far preferred a "cheese" cake, if we´d known .

[patpoyntz Profile]

M&S sell cheese wedding cakes, also tiered pork pie cakes.

[Lokelani Profile]

I'd have loved a cheese wedding cake. Or even a chocolate one. Over 20 years ago there were less choices (& we were less imaginative!). MIL offered to make a fruit one & I accepted even though I hate fruit cake, it gave us something to decorate.

My favourite brie is a Cornish one, St Endellion. It's always reliably creamy, I've never had that chalky bitter centre, or that slight ammonia flavour that some seem to develop. Maybe I've always been lucky to have it at just the perfect ripeness. I forgot to bring any home from our last Cornwall trip.

Give me cheese over anything sweet any day!

[Amyw Profile]

Why is wedding cake traditionally fruit? I hate fruit cake with a passion and the icing as well. I do like the naked wedding cakes , Appeal to my inner hippy

[Pepper Pig Profile]

The answer to that Amy is tradition. Look at previous posts and then possibly Wiki?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Ive a feeling Victoria and Albert may have set the fashion for fruit cake and royal icing, I expect Dr Annie Grayhas written about it

[Earthmaiden Profile]

You're probably right about Victoria & Albert. However, surely a rich fruit cake was considered special anyway because of the lavish ingredients and the alcohol meant it would keep. Even when I was a child, an iced Christmas or wedding cake was very special for that reason and a huge treat.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I love fruit cake, am saddened by the trend towards garish sponges in celebration cakes, but it does seem to be going out of fashion. Is it a generational thing? Cakes and puddings with dried vine fruits seem less popular than they were. I've always been fond of any sort of fruit cake (recently made a simnel cake), mince pies, bread pudding, Eccles cake, spotted dick or even squashed fly biscuits for that matter, but they're becoming more niche. I find it odd that children's tastes change over generations. Things that were really popular in the 60s (rice pudding for instance - I really looked forward to it) seem to be completely ignored now.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Americans are sometimes very funny about fruit cake, I have been asked by US colleagues if in England we really like fruit cake, yuck?

But I know that there are a couple of famous makers that send them out around the USA at Christmas time, possibly an Irish American thing as the company I first heard of is Boston based.

Something about a good solid fruit cake is that it needs no refrigeration and has the heft to take the kind of elaborate royal icing decoration that takes a week of layering and drying out to do, and I think the popularity of the cake has declined as that style has gone out of fashion, sponge wasn’t an option for it

Cheese Update
The cheese by post developments made a real difference last week to the artisan makers, especially Kirkham! Keep chomping!

[Pepper Pig Profile]

And isn't one of the layers supposed to be kept for "the christening of the first baby" or is that just my family?




(We did it).

[Amyw Profile]

The answer to that Amy is tradition. Look at previous posts and then possibly Wiki?

Thanks

[Stokey Sue Profile]

And isn't one of the layers supposed to be kept for "the christening of the first baby" or is that just my family?

(We did it).

It’s a widespread tradition, Earthmaiden already mentioned it

[cherrytree Profile]

By the time we got to our fourth child’s wedding, this particular daughter put her foot down and I made meringues for everyone instead. The hotel (on Derwentwater so the stetting was gorgeous) filled them and arranged them on lovely silver platters.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

And not just in Britain!

https://www.insider.com/france-told-eat ... rus-2020-5

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The British Cheese Weekender, the UK’s biggest cheese festival, was due to happen this weekend in the real world and has been moved online, there are some potentially interesting sessions including virtual tours and demos such as halloumi making

https://blog.academyofcheese.org/britis ... -weekender

[PatsyMFagan Profile]

And isn't one of the layers supposed to be kept for "the christening of the first baby" or is that just my family?
(We did it).

Me too

[Earthmaiden Profile]

The cheese festival looks great. I'm really bad at remembering to 'tune in' to all the online things that are going on!

I went to the annual cheese festival at Melton Mowbray a few years ago - it was wonderful. Lots to taste but sadly, an ordinary person's budget doesn't go far and you have to choose carefully!