Food and drink plays such a big part in your wedding day and the significance of your wedding breakfast is emphasised by the fact that this will be your very first meal as husband and wife!
Your wedding day will be full of perfect moments that you’ll want to share with your friends and family and capture to remember forever. Whatever you decide to have for your food and drink catering and in whatever type of venue you choose, it creates a great opportunity for people to come together and get to know each other. You can also get some incredible photographs of your menu that will add another dimension to your wedding album and social media – particularly as so many people are looking for inspiring ways to create meals, present dishes and enjoy new flavours.
Get your wedding guests together over food and drink
Food and drink can play a great role in creating a social atmosphere as your guests talk about favourite dishes, best places to eat, favourite takeaway food and of course a glass of wine or two helps loosen people up…especially on the dance floor.
If you get the chance to personalise your menu with your caterers, you can have all sorts of fun incorporating your favourite foods, memories from your first date, dishes from holidays and fun and creative ways to make your menu an experience.
Wedding menus that “wow” your guests
We’re often asked to craft menus that will “wow” guests and create something different that guests may never have tried. Many brides and grooms that we have worked with have asked for their photographer to capture moments in the kitchen, behind the scenes and record how their menu was put together. The finished product is a personalised menu and every wedding has it’s own story as to why and how we prepared the food in the way we did. This is were our chefs alchemy comes in to play and we get creative with ideas and different takes on canapés, starter courses, main courses and especially desserts.
Desserts split the nation. For some, people can take it or leave it and prefer savoury to sweet flavours. For others, it can often be fruit flavours versus chocolate heaven! Our Head Chef, Mike Scott, has put together four of his favourite desserts that we’ve created and will be preparing for weddings over the coming year. Mike talks us through his inspiration for creating these amazing dishes and gives an insight into a chef and his kitchen.
Salted Caramel Tart, Praline Cream & Vanilla Macaron.
I saw a similar salted caramel tart made by one of my favourite Michelin Star chef heroes, Phil Howard. This isn’t your typical heavy chocolate tart that is quite rich or even a salted caramel dessert that on it’s own can be too much intense flavour. This is a baked tart that makes it quite light and the praline cream is a surprise to the taste buds and balances out the flavours perfectly.
Bourbon Snaps, Whipped Cherry Mascarpone, Chocolate Soil, Chocolate Gel & Cherries.
I was just playing around in our kitchen lab with brandy snaps thinking of different ways we can use them in desserts. I’m a big fan of bourbon and was thinking of different flavours that could go well together to create an exciting dessert which got me to cherries. This is probably a little more autumnal as a dessert – it’s still got a bit of crunch from the chocolate, but the chocolate soil makes it a little lighter. Bourbon, chocolate and cherry are all great flavour combinations and it looks fantastic on the plate.
Cassis & Summer Berry Mousse, Blackcurrant Jelly & Raspberry Macaron.
A classic summer pudding is what I was aiming for here – a dessert that is light and fruity. This is a really refined and delicate dessert and would lend itself well to finishing a menu with a quintessentially English feel to it. I love Cassis and I wanted a really fruity hit on the pallet as you take the first spoonful. It could work equally as well with a raspberry or a strawberry. Strawberries are fantastic in this country in the summer and I like to use them as much as possible when they’re in season. You can imagine guests at a wedding breakfast enjoying this one in a beautiful marquee, on a lawn, on a summers day.
White Chocolate Dome, Passion Fruit Mousse & Jelly, Chocolate Brownie & Tagete Flowers
My favourite bit of this dessert is the Tagete flower as they not only look beautiful on the dish, but they add a delicious citrus note to the dessert. I’m a big fan of using edible flowers in my recipes, but I also want to make sure I use flowers that add flavour that works with the rest of the ingredients – sometimes edible flowers can be style over substance, but not with these ones.
The passionfruit mousse gives a nice little bitterness to cut through the smooth chocolate brownie and also adds a different texture. The whole dessert is really light, fragrant and creamy. The fun bit though is to take a spoon and smash through the chocolate dome and just make a bit of mess on the plate.
For more menu inspiration, food and drink ideas for your wedding catering, the Caviar & Chips team will be on stand B30 sampling delicious canapés and hand-painted chocolates.
