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| One of the Waitrose range of wedding cheese cake |
Competition is hotting
up in the world of wedding cheese cakes. Not the baked New York-style
ones that you get in Pizza Express, but the towers of cheeses stacked
on top of each other that seem to be obligatory at British weddings
these days.
Long the preserve of
independent delis and cheesemongers, Waitrose has recently waded into
the market with a pretty decent range of cheese cakes that can be
pre-ordered from its stores, but I reckon you get a better level of service,
range, often at keener prices, by dealing direct with delis,
cheesemongers and online specialists.
Plan
for about 100g of cheese per person and expect to pay around £2 a
head. There are more tips on The British Cheese Board website.
Here's my top 5:
This Devon-based
business is literally run from a shed by Ian Wellens and was named
Best Independent in the 2011 Observer Food Monthly Awards. It has
just launched its own online 'cakebuilder', which allows you to drag
different cheeses onto a virtual plate to build your own bespoke
tower. Not only does this mean that you can see what the finished
cake will look like in terms of colours and size, but it also tells
you exactly how many people it will feed and how much it will cost.
Genius.
Price: Off-the-peg
cakes start at £67 for a 2kg selection to feed up to 25.
Delivery: charge:
Between £5.99 and £14.99 depending on the size of the order.
This Wimbledon-based
business supplies restaurants, delis and hotels with cheese, so has a
huge range of cheeses to choose from. The website is easy to navigate
with thorough descriptions and information about the cheeses. Rather
than pre-designed cheese cakes, Norbiton prefers to offer a bespoke
service, although there are a couple of suggestions to get people
thinking. Adding little Crottin de Chavignol goats cheeses to act as
pillars between the tiers on the cakes is a nice touch.
Price: A three-tier
cake consisting of Cornish Yarg, Colston Bassett Stilton and
Coulmmier would feed 50 and cost around £130.
Delivery charge: £8.95
within mainland UK excluding Highlands and Islands
Debbie Priestley (right) has
doubled the size of her cheese shop in Barnstaple, since taking it
over in 2007, and has also built up an impressive online business. As
the name suggests, the shop specialises in West Country cheeses from
Beenleigh Blue to Montgomery's Cheddar, but it also does a decent
range of cheeses from the rest of Britain and Europe. Debbie offers a
bespoke service to fit people's personal tastes and budgets with some
good advice online on how to decorate cheese cakes.
Price: Start at around
£100 for a cheese cake that feeds 50.
Delivery charge: £8.50
within the mainland.
Operating from its own
cheese shop in Cheltenham, The CheeseWorks has a thoughtful selection
of wedding cheese cakes with well-written descriptions of what you
get, including the weight and how much they cost.
I signed up to their
monthly cheese club a few years back, which saw a selection of
cheeses arrive on my doorstep once a month on time and pristine
condition.
Price: The entry level
Holstein selection comprises Cerney Pepper, Cotswold Brie, Pecorino
Rosso and costs £75 for 3.5kg of cheese, which will feed up to 40
guests.
Delivery charge: £5.95
to mainland England, Wales and Scottish Lowlands.
Has a large range of
ready-made options based on what other people have chosen for their
weddings or is happy to design a personalised cake, selecting from a
wide range of British and Continental cheeses. Because the company
specialises in wedding cheese cakes, it really knows what works and
what doesn't. “There will be no sinking cheeses in our cakes,” it
claims on the website.
Price: A five-tier
'budget' cake is £105 and will feed around 40.
Delivery charge:
included in price.
