Cheese wedding cake

Tags

camembert, cheese, food, raw milk, wedding, wedding cake

I’ve been getting a fair few emails recently asking whether I’m still making cheese, and the answer is YES!  However in the past few months, @heatherrhian and I have been somewhat distracted by our wedding.

And what would you expect at an amateur cheese-maker’s wedding?  A cheese wedding cake of course!

Cheese wedding cake

After much deliberation I decided not to risk making the cheese cake myself, mainly because the work required would’ve been way too much, and I would’ve stressed myself out completely if anything went wrong!

Instead, I went to the fantastic Neal’s Yard Dairy and with the help of Katy Fenwick decided on the following assortment, from top to bottom:

• Stawley – an unpasterised goat milk cheese, made by Caroline and Will Atkinson.  As well as being a beautiful, delicate cheese, I was lucky enough to visit the dairy about a year ago, when I was looking to turn my hobby professional.
• Tunworth – a pasteurised cow milk cheese, similar to camembert.  @heatherrhian first introduced me to the joys of a baked camembert, and my life has never been the same since.
• Feallan – originally planned to be a Brother David, this little washed rind stole the show in my opinion.  Oozing and decadently meaty, people were scooping it up with their fingers, the more adventurous people mixing it with the Tunworth.
• Spenwood – usually I wouldn’t go near a hard ewe’s milk cheese, as I’d get my hard cheese quota from Montgomery’s cheddar, or a Comte, however the practicality of keeping cake-shaped meant I had to branch out.  I was pleasantly surprised – smooth and nutty with bags of flavour, it ended up proving very popular with those more wary of cheese.
• Colston Bassett Stilton – another last minute substitution, in this case for Stichelton, but there were no complaints from me.  Colston Bassett is pretty much the gold standard of Stiltons, and this chunk was no exception.  My only regret of the wedding was not thinking to add a big chunk of this to the top of the burger I ended up eating at the end of the night!

Cutting the cheese cake

Cutting the cake was brilliant – we went through the Feallan with ease, then got completely stuck on the Spenwood.

Trying to cut through Spenwood

We eventually managed to get through it, fingers all intact.  The cheese was in absolutely perfect condition.  I would heartily recommend Neal’s Yard Dairy to anyone looking to get a cheese wedding cake.  Many people have said it was the best cheese they’ve ever tasted, so I’d consider that a success!