dessert tasting, part 4

Finally, finally, I think we have narrowed it down to three delectable bite-size desserts to supplement the cake at our wedding. Good thing, because it’s only 5 weeks away now. We’ve gone round and round and tasted many things, but in the end our final three choices are: mini fruit tarts, mini chocolate mousse cups (these are Jen’s favorite) and mini cheesecakes, all from Whole Foods. Don’t they look yummy?


For the sake of simplicity, we are also going to order a few other appetizer trays from the same place so it’s easy to pick them up the day before. Whole Foods does a great job – most of their stuff looks like it’s been professionally catered – so hopefully it won’t be too obvious. My plan is to ply people with champagne first, then serve the food … because, by then, who will care?

dessert tasting, part 3

It stands to reason that a post titled "Part 3" should come after two similarly-titled posts. But, well, we've been tasting wedding desserts since Christmas and this blog just doesn't go back that far. So here's a synopsis of what's happened so far:

1. Decided we didn't want a wedding cake (boring, and too traditional)

2. Learned it's hard to find a caterer who's interested in a 30-person, desserts-and-champagne reception on Memorial Day weekend.

3. Decided to have luscious mini desserts from a local bakery in lieu of a cake.

4. Spent an entire day dragging Kelly and Ron between Culpeper and Charlottesville to explore bakeries that we found on the internet. Found:

• One scary, rural bakery run by a god-fearing* Italian grandmother, who didn't understand why we were both getting married on the same day. (*I know this because there were Bible verses on the wall. Lots of them.)
  
• One small-town bakery that makes brownies and cookie squares in any type and flavor imaginable, but no cakes.
  
• One bakery that had practically nothing in the case. Strange. Didn't bother much further
  
• And one bakery with luscious pastries and cakes.
  

5. Ate samples from all these places, and made ourselves sick.

6. Decided, after all that, that the cake was really better after all.

7. Ordered a cake from Albemarle Baking Company. You can check them out online.

8. Still want to serve mini desserts, to go with the cake. Decided to get them from Whole Foods. Its just easier that way.


So, we've been eating sweets for, oh, two months now. NOT that I am complaining: truthfully, I love cake and desserts of all types. Jen, not so much, so I eat her share too sometimes. We've already tasted these goodies from Whole Foods:

• Mini key lime pie: nice and limey, but too dense and a little sandy. Not sure if this is how key lime pie is supposed to be, never having eaten one before. I'd vote no.
  
• Mini chocolate pie: too rich, like eating dark chocolate fudge. The mousse was better.
• Mini fruit tart: fresh fruit over a custard filling. Yum, good.
• Mini walnut pie of some sort: couldn't really figure this one out, but it was OK I suppose.
• Mini eclair: not too much flavor, but not offensive. A maybe.
  

Okay, now you're up-to-date. Last night, we tested out miniature chocolate mousse cups in chocolate shells, and mini cannoli from the Whole foods pastry shop. Success! Both were delicious, and we will add these to our list of possibilities.