Wedding Desserts

Jeb and Sterling's mom met a fellow online and after a fairly brief courtship decided to get married. The wedding was scheduled with very little notice to anyone and there wasn't much time to prepare. I got a call from Susan on Wednesday asking if I could provide a dessert buffet for roughly 75 people in three days. I was up to the challenge!

I made a plan, a shopping list, and started with the easiest of the treats that night: doctored up box brownies.

I went shopping first thing Thursday morning then came home and started on the hardest treat: wild cherry macarons (colored blue) with a lemon cream cheese filling. It was the first time in my baking career that an entire batch of macarons came out perfect on the first try. They were so beautiful and I was so pleased!

I made the dough for lemon cookies Thursday evening, because they needed to chill in the fridge overnight, and ground pecans for the Mexican wedding cookies before going to bed. Frist thing Friday I baked the lemon cookies, then made the Mexican wedding cookies. They both went so much smoother than I anticipated.

My fifth, and potential fall back treat was a blueberry crumble bar. I liked the idea of another tray bake, and I felt like they fit with the color scheme and feel of the spread, but it was a new recipe and I wasn't sure how well they'd hold up to being cut. The two cookies went so well on Friday though and I felt ahead of schedule, so I thought I'd give them a go. I made a massive mess making them because I went with frozen berries over fresh due to cost, and because I couldn't fit a whole double batch of the crust in the food processor at one time and transferring the crumbly mixture from bowl to bowl was a bit chaotic. I added almond extract to the dough instead of vanilla and I think that was a genius move. Once cooled, they cut beautifully and held up remarkably well. No soggy bottom at all! I didn't have enough serving trays (which seems strange considering how often I've ended up doing stuff like this) so Matthew and I ran to Walmart and purchased a two tiered basket sort of thing that the blueberry bars looked perfect in.

My last task for Friday night was to finish the citrus cookies. I made a lemon curd glaze that didn't seem strong enough at first, but after sitting a bit ended up quite potent. Ideally, I would have glazed them right before serving, but I didn't think I'd have time in the morning, and I was right. They seemed a bit boring, so I coated them with a sparkly, decorative glitter sugar that didn't really add any flavor but certainly dressed them up.

We loaded up the car Saturday morning and everything survived the 10 minute drive to the wedding venue. Mindy made a pretty little carrot cake, and Susan provided a nacho bar. The ceremony was lovely, Pam and her new husband were so happy, and we were happy for them. 

The spread looked beautiful and I received many compliments. The macarons are always well praised, mostly I think because they're considered so fancy, but I was surprised at how well liked the lemon cookies were. Multiple people said they were the favorite. The blueberry bars were not as popular as the rest, but those who tried them really liked them. The brownies were a big hit with the younger crowd, and I think the Mexican wedding cookies were just what they ought to be but nothing worth particular remark.

It was a lot of work, but so much fun. I don't think I'd like to be a professional caterer, but doing the occasional wedding or baby shower is something I really enjoy.