Three Desserts and A Wedding

Today, my dear friend and high school secretary got married and she was kind enough to ask me to do the desserts!  It was my first "gig" and I'd say it was a hit.  

I did desserts (and one surprise) for the reception.  The first dessert I decided on was a macaron of some sort because I always bring Mrs. Krebeihl the desserts I test in Culinary.  She tried one bite of a Nutella filled macron and fell in love!  So I created a dark chocolate strawberry macaron just for her special day.  

It was only my third time making these delicate confections so I was a tad nervous.  My first pan had cracked tops only because I used pans with edges on them.  Rookie mistake.  So I persevered and switched pans for the next two trays.  I had forgotten how many each batch of macarons makes!! 

It's a good idea to match up a bottom and a top before you even put the filling in a pastry bag so you don't have to hurry and find one that fits before you drop the whole thing.  

Filling a pastry bag is serious business.  It's hard to get sticky frosting in the bag and not all over your hands.  By sticking the tip-end of the bag in a tall glass, you can fold over the rest of the bag and fill it without having frosting spilling everywhere.  

I decided to fill the chocolate shell with something rich, and chocolatey, and yummy.  Ganache.  So I infused the ganache with raspberry extract and it turned out phenomenal!  I also squished a half of a fresh raspberry inside just to intensify the flavor of the fruit.  

I took pictures along the assembly of the macarons so you can see just how easy it is (after the baking process).  

The shell.

A layer of raspberry infused ganache.

Half raspberry.

Squishing it.

A layer of ganache again to make sure the top sticks.

And thats it!

Next, I made the tiramisu cupcakes.  I used a recipe from Martha Stewart.  The result was a light fluffy cupcake topped with a light mascarpone frosting.  If I could go back in time, I would make the coffee that soaked the cake stronger and add more of it because it was muted by the frosting.  

I dusted the tops with a little cocoa powder.

And then I put them in these super cute liners to add to the elegance of the afternoon.

I originally wanted to make tuile cookie spoons but they turned out very, um, artistically.  Probably because I don't have a mold.  So then I turned to plan B.  I whipped up a light chocolate cookie that I made thin and crispy to contrast with the rich peanut butter mousse.

The color contrast is much better too.

She told me that the reason she asked me to do the desserts is because she didn't want a huge cake.  But I had to, it's what I do.  And it was her surprise.  So I made a chocolate Chianti infused cake with a Chianti Buttercream.  I decorated it with fondant flowers and ganache filled raspberries.  

I also added some silver luster dust and some silver edible pearls to bring some sparkle to the plate.

And thats the final product!

So we had this cake... 

these macarons...

these peanut butter mousse wafers...

and these cupcakes.  

I have already had the brides family asking for the recipes and I feel very proud of my first event.  Can't wait to do another!