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Something Bleu words LizThorpe W hen the time came for me to get married, no one was surprised when I planned the entire weekend via a

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some ideas for cakes made of cheese for various groups and tastes: A Ladies’ Luncheon Cake (serves 12-15) The smaller cheeses used here are the soft, buttery cheeses, so this “cake” is all about decadence. Garnish with dried cherries and sliced apples that have been soaked in lemon water to prevent browning. Base layer: A bit of Brie, made of goat milk (like La Bonne Vie Goat Brie) Mid layer: An eight-ounce round made of cow milk (like La Bonne Vie Rouge, which adds a bright-red color, Delice Camembert or Southern Georgia-made Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill) Top layer: A taller, smaller mixed-milk Italian cheese (La Tur) A Groomsman’s Cake at an Intimate Wedding (serves 50-75) Bigger groups mean bigger cheeses, and thus more variety of flavor and texture. Garnish with nuts and dried fruits. Base layer: A sturdy blue cheese with earthy flavor and fudgy texture (like Stilton, specially cut in a cross section, Rogue River Smokey Blue or Cambozola Black) Mid layer: A truffle-laced goat cheese (Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog) Mid layer: An aged sheep cheese (Petit Basque) Top layer: A small, buttery round (like La Tur, Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill, Delice Camembert or Robiola Bosina) A Very Big Cake, for a Very Big Celebration (serves 200-300) Decorate the cake with flowers to match the event theme, then go all out with a DIY buffet where guests can select from a dozen garnishes for their cheese plates. Base layer: A hard, full-flavored cheese (Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Ewephoria Sheep Gouda, Cablanca Goat Gouda) Mid layer: A semisoft wheel that adds color (Drunken Goat, Mahón, Huntsman, Whiskey Cheddar) Mid layer: An approachable blue (Saint Agur, Valdeon, Great Hill Blue) Mid layer: A fluffy white wheel that won’t get gooey (Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog, Saint-André, Cypress Grove Truffle Tremor) Mid layer: An aged sheep cheese (Petit Basque) Top layer: A creamy, spreadable round (Jasper Hill Harbison, Delice Camembert, Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill) Final layer: A buttery round that adds color or height (La Tur, La Bonne Vie Rouge)

choose between it and a “real” cake: You can have your cake and eat cheese, too. Cheese cakes are beautifully scalable since cheese comes in both teeny rounds (as small as two ounces — practically bite-size) and enormous wheels (the biggest run about 180 pounds, which would be enough to anchor a cake for a college reunion). As long as you can buy whole wheels of cheese, you can make a cake at home simply by unwrapping the cheese and stacking softer wheels atop harder wheels, with the biggest on the bottom and the smallest on the top. The crafty among us can up the game by decorating cheese cakes with fruit, flowers, herbs or nuts. The foodies out there can take a cake made of cheese and turn it into the ultimate DIY buffet, with garnishes and accoutrements that guests can add to their taste. I’m imagining bowls of fresh fruits (berries, pitted or maraschino cherries, slices of apple and pear, grapes, figs); platters of

very detailed spreadsheet. In particular, I was obsessed with the food for the rehearsal pig roast, the cocktail hour and the sit-down dinner that concluded with a cheese course before dessert. Also, no one was surprised that the one thing I outsourced was the wedding cake. I asked my mom if she would deal with it. The poor woman crisscrossed two states meeting bakers, tasting cakes, and calling and emailing me with the pros and cons of one vs. another. Each time she solicited my input, it was all I could do not to say, “Thank you so much for the effort — I couldn’t care less about the cake.” What can I say? I’m not a sweets person. It wasn’t until after I had celebrated my own wedding that it occurred to me I could have asked my caterer to make a cheese

cake. I don’t mean the New York style cheesecake with a graham cracker crust — I mean a gorgeous, layered stack of cheese wheels in myriad colors of snow white, ochre, nut brown — maybe even pearlescent blue — all duded up with flowers to match my bouquet or with herbs to match our grooms- men’s boutonnières. Instead of smashing buttercream on our noses my husband and I could have served one another a perfect sliver of cheese, topped with a fig slice or drizzle of honey. That would have been my style. Even on our anniver- sary I’d rather celebrate with a tiny tower of fluffy, buttery white cheeses than a chocolate mousse or bread pudding. Call me crazy, but I’ll take cheese over cake pretty much anytime. And I know I’m not alone! The beauty of a cake made of cheese is that you don’t have to

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