A cheese wedding cake _220
FOR those who don’t like fruit cakes, a replacement is growing in popularity for brides and grooms across the region – cheese.
Wedding cakes made of cheese are becoming the new “must have” for those who want something a little different to celebrate their big day.
From Cheddar to Brie, all types of cheeses can be used to form the tiered “cakes”, which double up nicely as the cheeseboard for dozens of guests.
Carole Faulkner, from the Chester-based Cheese Shop, on Northgate Street, said she has seen them grow in popularity over the last eight years to the point where she is selling one a week at least.
She said: “A lot of people don’t like fruitcake or choose them for their evening do – that way, they have another cake to cut for those guests who missed it earlier.
“We decorate them according to the bride’s colours, although figs and grapes are popular.”
And, according to Vickie Anderson, from the Liverpool Cheese Company, in Woolton Village, the unusual cakes are currently proving extremely popular for those celebrating civil partnerships.
She said: “It’s mainly women who want them. We started doing the wedding cakes about the same time civil partnerships started. I think people were looking for something a little bit different.”
She said word of mouth had seen many guests at weddings with the unusual cakes come to her to order them.
She said: “They are quite popular at the moment. People tend to choose their favourite cheeses, although obviously they don’t want them all to be the same size.
“Cornish Yarg is very popular because it’s wrapped in nettles so it looks lovely and green.
“Brie is popular because it’s white and snowy – like a traditional cake.”
The cakes can cost around £100-£180 – often cheaper than a traditional bespoke wedding cake, although more complex cheese wedding cakes can cost much more.
And Carole Faulkner and her former pupil Vickie Anderson have now teamed up with Wirral Food and Drink Festival and Tanners Wine Merchants to run this year’s People’s Choice Cheese Awards.
The awards will be held at Thornton Hall Hotel to give the public the chance to vote for their favourite regional cheeses.
At the judging evening on Thursday, August 14, which starts at 7pm, there is the chance to taste many of the very best cheeses from the region and sample some of Tanners’ top wines.
There will be cookery demonstrations by celebrity chef Brian Mellor and talks about cheese and pairing wine with cheese. Last year, around 200 people came along to vote on their favourite cheeses.
Tickets at £7.50 are available from Claremont Farm Shop, the Liverpool Cheese Company, the Chester Cheese Shop and Thornton Hall Hotel, or contact Rachel Guratsky, Festival Organiser on 07877 921 276 or via the website at www.wirralfood festival.co.uk.
The winners will be announced at the Wirral Food and Drink Festival, on Sunday, August 24, and Monday, August 25, at Claremont Farm.
