Party Time

My son's confirmation party, a week ago... Despite the last minute hassle - my husband baking baguettes at 2 a.m. in the morning, because of my time management earlier that night hadn't been the best possible - everything was ready in time. Everything was indeed ready exactly one minute before the first guests were to arrive! 

We had cakes, cakes and even more cakes - that was what the party boy had asked me to make. We also had cookies, pulled pork sandwiches, mini quiches and cheese croissants. Everything I had planned plus a beautiful carrot cake with an amazing chocolate tree made by my 11-year-old daughter and home-made 'oreo' cookies also made by her.  

When the party started, behind was quite a few nights when I did not sleep more than five hours and even when sleeping, I was piping icing and soaking gelatine leaves in my dreams - but loving every moment both awake and in these dreams. This was my challenge and I truly enjoyed it! The moments of starting from scratch, the heat, the sweat, the numerous visits to the shop to buy 'one more pack of icing sugar'...

At the actual party I remember once sitting down with a piece of cake but then I had to get up right away to welcome some guests and did not find my plate ever since. Luckily we had lots of leftovers so I was able to have many pieces of cake in quiet and peace the day after!

I was happy I had tested each and every recipe beforehand (all recipes can be found from earlier posts in this blog) so I knew what I was making and what could possibly go wrong. To my surprise nothing really went wrong, that is, turned into something inedible. My hidden heart cake did sink a lot when I got it out of the oven but the black heart inside was fine so I just cut the sunken part off and put icing on top. The layers of some of the cakes were not perfectly measured and cut, and my Chocolaty Celtic Cross was done in a hurry and looked a bit soggy, but at least it stayed in one piece when I lifted it onto the cake from the silicone mat where I had piped it.

To summarize, +30'C heatwave was the only real risk. No whipped cream and no fish or prawns could be served, unfortunately. Buttercream worked great! Nobody got food poisoning. Cat hair? - Maybe somewhere. - Happy Baker - Happy Guests. And happy cats when they finally got their house back after our 45 guests (two of them were dogs!) had left.

Left: Carrot Cake with Buttercream and Milk Chocolate Tree. Middle, front: Lime Cheesecake with Red Currants. Middle, back: Caramel&Vanilla Ombre Cake with Black Currants. Right: Chocolate Mousse Cake with Celtic Cross made of Dark Chocolate and brushed with a Silver Pen.

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Celtic Cross made of Dark Chocolate and brushed with a Silver Pen.

Caramel&Vanilla Ombre Cake with Black Currants.

Left: Lemony Blueberry Cake. Right: Alexander Pastries.

Left: Hidden Heart Cake with Liquorice Icing. Middle: Lemony Blueberry Cake. Right: Alexander Pastries.

Pulled-Pork Sandwiches. Home-made Pulled Pork and Coleslaw. Home-made Baguettes. Sour Garlic Cucumbers.

Left: Mini Quiches filled with Goats Cheese&Tomato. Right: Mini Quiches filled with Smoked Reindeer and Horseradish Cream Cheese.

Front: Cheese Croissants filled with Emmental Cheese&Ramiro Paprika. Cheese Croissants filled with Smoked Ham and Blue Cheese.