Do you need an eye-catching centrepiece for your top table at your wedding breakfast? Cheese wedding cakes are now considered a stylish and unusual alternative to a traditional wedding cake. As cheese experts, Godminster have ten top tips to help you craft the perfect cheese wedding cake which is sure to be the talking point of your guests’ evening meal.
1. Consider Where You Buy Your Cheese
As a nation, we Brits love cheese. The British Cheese Board has estimated that there are over seven hundred named cheeses in production in the UK. Despite stiff competition from their European cousins, British cheeses repeatedly win prominent and prestigious international cheese awards. It is one of the most versatile foods available since it can be used in any course of a meal and, with so many different flavours and textures, everyone has a favourite. As a result, it makes it perfect for inclusion in your wedding. Your wedding is a celebration of you and your partner’s love. If you are particularly passionate about cheese, a cheese wedding cake is a perfect idea for indulging your excellent tastes and introducing your loved ones to some of your favourites. Remember, buying British does not only mean buying British cheese. It can mean supporting your local cheese stockist too.
2. Select a Range Of Cheeses
With so many delicious British cheeses to choose from, we are sure you can easily find several cheeses to suit all tastes. From raucous Stiltons, creamy Wensleydales, or to our very own award-winning Oak Smoked Vintage Organic Cheddar, be sure to pick a selection of cheeses sure to delight and wow your guests.
By selecting a variety of cheeses, you’re sure to please everyone. You can consider including:
• Blue cheese, such as Cornish blue, Stilton or Gorgonzola (this counts as your “something blue”, right?).
• Semi-firm cheese, such as Cornish Yarg.
• Harder cheeses, such as cheddar (this also makes the perfect base layer of a wedding cake!).
• Textured cheese, such as Dorstone.
• Soft and creamy cheese, such as Brie, Camembert, Ismay or goat’s cheese. Don’t forget to spice up the range of flavours either.
Here at Godminster, we sell cheese wedding cakes that are tailored for all taste buds (cheeses can include Oak-Smoked Vintage Cheddar for a smokey flavour, Colston Bassett Stilton for a rich taste which lingers or a pungent Francis cheese for cheese fans who love a pong!). Remember, even if you don’t like a particular type of cheese, there might be guests in your party who simply love it. A fun way to include your guests in the wedding cake is to select a cheese to represent not only you and your partner but loved ones like your parents or children. That instantly gives you many different cheeses to begin creating your perfect cake and making it totally unique.
3. Pick Perfect Partners for Your Cheese Wedding Cake
It’s not just you and your loved one who need to be perfect partners on your big day, but you also need to consider what pairs perfectly with your cheese cake. From crackers to chutneys and from quince jelly to figs, there are a plethora of accompaniments to choose from.
What to Pair With Cheese
In terms of crackers or biscuits we would recommend you have a selection with different textures, shapes and colours to add to the visual effect of your stunning cheese cake.
• Sourdough crackers are a great choice, for where the strong flavoured cheese needs to be the hero.
• Beetroot or charcoal biscuits can add colour and drama, breaking up the usual biscuit beige, they now come in a variety of shapes and are ideal with soft cheeses such as brie.
• Rosemary biscuits with goat or sheep cheese brings great aroma to the party.
• Last but not least something sweet (such as a humble digestive) works ideally with a tasty Cheddar (like Godminster Vintage Organic Cheddar)
Why not take a look at our very own mixed case of crackers and biscuits to accompany your cheese? Other popular pairings with cheese include: Fruits – it’s a good idea to include an assortment of fruits (such as berries, grapes and dried fruits) with your cheese cake so guests can mix and match to their liking. Nuts (both plain and candied) Meats (cured meats such as prosciutto go particularly well with many cheeses. That said, try to keep any meat separate from the cheese so that it’s vegetarian-friendly). Chutneys and jams (fruity jams go beautifully with soft cheeses like Brie and caramelised red onion chutney is a real winner with hard and blue cheeses).
4. Order Enough Cheese for Your Guests (And a Few Extras!)
With delicious cheese on the table, you want to make sure that there’s plenty to go around. You can take the number of guests expected to attend in consideration to the size wedding cheese cake you choose. Here at Godminster, we sell cheese cake towers that can cater for up to 120 guests, but it’s certainly worth purchasing some extra cheeses in case you run out. In particular, you should consider ordering extras of the top tiers. You will have less of these cheeses, but if they are particularly popular, you will need more to satisfy your guests. You wouldn’t want anyone missing out.
How Much Cheese Per Person at a Wedding is Needed?
Typically, it’s recommended that you have around 80g-100g of cheese per person but it’s worth bearing in mind that not all your guests will want cheese and there will be guests (such as small children) who will have much smaller portions.
5. Store Your Cheese Correctly
Although it is important to keep your cheese refrigerated until the day of the event there’s a well-kept secret that cheese tastes its best when it’s been brought up to room temperature over the span of at least an hour. When slowly brought to room temperature all those lovely aromatic flavours and textures come to life.
6. Decorate Your Cheese Wedding Cake to Match Your Theme
Godminster Banquet Cheese Cake Consider your wedding venue, style and theme so you can decorate your cake accordingly. Cheese cakes are as versatile as their confectionary siblings. Whether you’re holding an intimate Boho do in a barn or a country manor affair straight from a romance novel, your cheeses can be stacked and decorated so they fit right in.
How to Decorate a Cheese Wedding Cake
There are many ways to decorate your cheese wedding cake so that it stands out and complements your theme. Flowers are often used to enhance the cake’s design as they’re an effective way to add a pop of colour – these can be as simple or as extravagant as you wish. You could consider using flowers from your bouquet to bring in your theme and add those finer details. Another popular way to decorate a cheese wheel cake is to add fruits and berries – not only does fruit marry up (excuse the pun) perfectly with many cheeses, but it also adds colour. Finally, you could consider adding ribbons to your cake, or, if you have a more pared back, rustic theme, raffia would beautifully tie around your centrepiece.
7. Consider How You Serve Your Cheese Wedding Cake
Cheese wedding cakes are typically displayed in tiers. On the one hand, you could allow guests to cut the cheese and serve themselves, but your lovely table top could become rather messy! Your other option would be to separate the layers of the cake out after “the big reveal” and the cutting of the cake, placing the cheeses on boards so that guests can easily take a slice. Alternatively, you may consider asking your caterers to hand out pre-cut slices of cheeses, so your cheese-loving guests can simply sit back, relax and enjoy.
How Do You Cut a Cheese Wedding Cake?
A cheese wedding cake can actually be cut in a similar way to how you’d cut a traditional wedding cake due to their tiered display. This means that you can easily cut the cake into slices for guests to take away.
8. Order Your Cheese In Good Time
As you would with a traditional wedding cake, you’re going to want to order your cheese wheel cake well in advance to avoid disappointment. Here at Godminster, we recommend ordering your wedding cheese cake from us at least two weeks in advance and allowing a minimum of 3 working days for delivery as there may be unexpected courier delays.
9. Consider the Cheese Wedding Cake Cost
Your budget will inevitably play a part in deciding what type of cheese wheel cake you decide to go for, so determine how much you’re willing to spend on your cheesy centrepiece.
How Much Does a Wedding Cheese Cake Cost?
The cost of a wedding cheese cake will depend on a number of factors, such as:
• The types of cheese included – some cheeses will cost more than others
• How many cheese wheels there are – the bigger the cake, the higher the cost!
• Where it comes from – different brands will charge different amounts for their cheese products.
You’ll also want to factor in delivery expenses too. Here at Godminster, our cheese celebration cakes start from just £78.00!
10. Label Your Cheeses
Let your guests know what cheeses are on offer. This is an important step to consider as your guests will have different taste buds and the last thing you want is for them to eat something which doesn’t agree with them. Labelling your cheeses and their ingredients is also essential for those who have allergies or follow a particular diet. For example, you’ll want to highlight whether a cheese is suitable for vegetarians or not. Aim to create labels which highlight what each cheese is, identify their ingredients and have a brief description of how they taste (just in case anyone would like to know this before trying them out; not everyone will want to experiment!).
The Grand Reveal
On your big day ask your venue staff/caterer to bring out your cake for that magic hour and allow your guests to marvel at this incredible creation. Hopefully, you will have managed to drum up a little excitement over this unique culinary delight. It is sure to please nearly everyone at your wedding; it will remain a talking point among your guests for months.
How Do You Display a Cheese Wedding Cake?
Firstly, your cheese wheel cake should be built shortly before it’s displayed (so that it’s not left outside of the refrigerator for too long). You can wow your guests with a tiered cheese wedding cake as a centrepiece of a table top and have delicious snacks around it that complement the cheeses.
How Long Can Cheese Be Left Out?
You might be wondering how long your cheese wheel cake will be safe on display for. Well, this can really depend on the time of year you hold your wedding and the weather conditions. For example, if your special day is taking place on a hot summer’s day, there’s a risk that your cake will lose its structural integrity. Under these conditions, you should aim to keep your cheese wheel cake refrigerated until about an hour before you plan to serve it; the less time it’s in the heat the better! If it’s a cooler day, the cake can be left out for longer (just make sure you don’t leave it in direct sunlight). As you might expect, harder cheeses will fare better outside the refrigerator for periods of time compared to soft cheeses. This doesn’t mean that you should forget about soft cheeses, just ensure that you’re storing and displaying your cheese wedding cake appropriately to keep it tasting its best. If we’ve tickled your taste buds with the temptation of a cheese wedding cake, do not worry, we have one for you! If there is still not a selection that tickles your taste buds, then why not take the DIY route! You can easily order your own cheeseboard and tiers to bring together your perfect, custom cheesecake.
Looking to Buy an Alternative Cheese Wedding Cake?
Think that an alternative cheese wedding cake might be the thing for you? Our Godminster Wedding and Celebration Cheese Cake or the Godminster Celebration Cake are both perfect for your big day. They feature not only our famous organic cheddar but a host of other beautiful British cheeses. We are confident you will love it. If you have any questions, you can have a read of our Cheese Cake FAQs.