Wedding Ideas on Ezine Articles

Wedding Ideas

If you want a fantastic family dinner then look below for a fantastic Pizza Recipe.  Home-made pizza from scratch is a great meal that all of the family can enjoy.  Make everyone’s favourite pizza, preservative FREE, additive FREE and you know exactly what is going into it.

Pizza Recipe – Dough

1kg strong white bread flour
1 level tablespoon sea salt
2 x 7g sachets of dried yeast
1 tablespoon caster sugar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
650ml lukewarm water

Sieve the flour/s and salt on to a clean work surface and make a well in the middle. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork, bring the flour in gradually from the sides and swirl it into the liquid. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour in, and when it all starts to come together, work the rest of the flour in with your clean, flour-dusted hands. Knead until you have a smooth, springy dough.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl and flour the top of it. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and place in a warm room for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

Now remove the dough to a flour-dusted surface and knead it around a bit to push the air out with your hands – this is called knocking back the dough. You can either use it immediately, or keep it, wrapped in glad wrap, in the fridge (or freezer) until required.  Roll the dough out into rough circles, about 0.5cm thick, and place them on slightly larger pieces of olive-oil-rubbed and flour-dusted tinfoil.

Pizza Recipe – Sauce

5 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 can whole peeled tomatoes

1 x large onion chopped

2 x cloves of garlic chopped

16 good quality basil leaves

Salt and pepper

Sweat the onions, chopped garlic, salt and pepper gently in the olive oil, being careful not to brown, for about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 1 hour

Add the basil and blitz with a hand blender until smooth.

Pizza Recipe - Toppings

I shouldn’t really be telling you this but the secret to a good pizza is simplicity.  A simple, good quality ingredient, cooked correctly is the sure way of creating a fantastic pizza.

Also, I never put very many raw veggies on a pizza, except tomatoes and a few other exceptions.  A great way to get tonnes of flavour into a pizza is to char grill the raw toppings.  For example, a good quality red onion, thickly sliced, seasoned with olive oil and salt and pepper and char-grilled in a pan or on the barbecue is 1000 times nicer that raw onions straight on the pizza.  Also, season and olive oil sliced mushrooms and sauté in a hot pan until you get a good caramelised colour and flavour into them.  A world of difference between these mushrooms and the dry shrivelled offerings you get from most of the major fast food pizza places.  Char-grill zucchini, eggplant, pumpkin, sweet potato or whatever you want for an exceptional vegetarian pizza.  I’m not a vego, but we eat these pizza’s all the time because they taste so good.

A simple recipe for a great pizza is – fresh buffalo mozzarella, dried and ripped apart, fresh organic tomatoes or better yet, straight from your own garden or window box, sliced and some freshly torn basil – just heaven!

Pizza Recipe – Cheese

The cheese is a very important part of the pizza.  Shredded good quality cheese is always the best way to do it.  It is simply a matter of personal choice, if you like mature cheddar then use it.  Likewise with other ingredients on a pizza, if you like it, then use it.  Just remember to use good quality ingredients and try to support local businesses.  Use a local cheese to your area, or King Island cheese or any good Australian cheese.

Buffalo mozzarella is the classical cheese to have on pizza, but if you can’t get hold of it or don’t like it, then use what you can.

Remember, get meat from your local butcher, veggies from your local veggie shop and try to shop in town rather that getting it all at the supermarket.  The quality is going to be better, it helps the local economy and you can feel better about yourself when your family are tucking into their freshly made pizza.

Pizza Recipe

Catering Articles

Authentic Pizza Recipe

How To Choose The Best Wedding Venues

 When choosing wedding venues it is very important to make sure that the wedding venue has all of the the essentials for comfortably holding your wedding.

The wedding venues allows family and friends of the couple to offer their congratulations and celebrate the couple’s new status. The style of wedding venues will depend on the budget available and the number of guests as well as personal preferences. The wedding reception and wedding venues are some of the most expensive elements of any wedding. The main decisions to be made are:

• the type of location of wedding venues, e.g. hotel, church hall, home
• who will do the catering? e.g. in-house, outside caterer, family and friends
• style of catering, e.g. sit-down meal, buffet

Plans for the wedding venues should be initiated as soon as the wedding date is set. Advanced notice of 3 months is usual for many venues although longer may be necessary for popular venues or at busy times of the year.

The wedding venues should be held near to location of wedding ceremony if a possible as this simplifies the transport arrangements.

Ask friends and acquaintances for recommendations when choosing wedding venues. It is essential to visit the wedding venues before making a booking. Relying on telephone enquiries and pictures in brochures is not adequate preparation when making such an important decision.

Types of wedding venues

Hotels, Restaurants, Banqueting Suites, Marquee

Many wedding venues provide a wedding service. They may offer an inclusive price for a fixed number of guests which includes changing room for the couple, food, drink table decorations etc. or they offer these services for an extra charge.

If there is to be an evening reception, it usual to hold this in the same location.  However, to have more control over your BIG day you would probably be better off by getting a venue that does not provide catering and hiring your own caterer.

The following is a list of topics to be discussed before making a booking:

• The number of guests and the size of the wedding venues function room. The larger wedding venues may have several function rooms of different sizes.
• The menu. Most wedding venues will offer a choice of menus and wines at various prices. Ask what provisions they make for special diets such as vegetarian or for diabetics.
• Seating plans. Ask what seating plans are possible in the space available. The final choice will depend on which groupings of people you think get on well with each other.
• Discuss the times when the wedding venues will be open to your guest and the timings of meals, music etc. Make sure that there are no time gaps between the wedding and reception or reception and evening celebration and if this is unavoidable inform guests in advance.
• Room and table decorations. Ask to see the table linen and place settings to ensure they do not clash with the overall colour scheme of the wedding. Floral room and table decorations and balloons may be supplied by the wedding venues or you may wish to use another supplier from outside.
• Parking. Do the wedding venues have enough parking spaces for all guests and, if not, is it easily available in the surrounding area?
• On arrival guests are usually greeted and offered a drink. The wedding venues will probably offer Champagne, sparkling wine, Bucks Fizz or Sherry. Ask for prices and which soft drinks they can offer.
• Will the head waiter or some other member of staff act as master of ceremonies?
• Changing room for bride and groom. Most wedding venues offer a room for the bride and groom to change in.
• Ask which other weddings are taking place on the same day and if you will you be sharing any facilities such as bars or reception areas.
• Check the toilet facilities. The bride and bridesmaids will need more room than usual if they are they are wearing elaborate skirts.
• Do the wedding venues have an adjoining room or perhaps a table in a corner of the main room where wedding gifts can be displayed?
• If the reception is being held in a hotel they will often offer special rates for the bridal suite or for guests to stay overnight.

Wedding venues in Community Halls

In most localities there is a church, school or local authority hall available for hire. Also, many pubs have private wedding venues rooms available for hire. It is usual to book halls 4 to 6 months in advance. For a small number of guests the catering may be done by family and friends although it is more convenient to have outside caterers for a larger gathering. The suitability of halls for wedding venues and the facilities they offer vary enormously so it is essential see the hall and its surroundings and discuss what facilities they offer in detail before booking. Items to check include:

• General appearance. Is the wedding venues in a suitable condition to hold a wedding reception and is it in a state of cleanliness suitable to serve food.
• Will the wedding venues be heated/air-conditioned? Some halls do not have heating or heating may not be turned on at certain times.
• Is the hall a suitable size for the number of guests? Are there enough general facilities such as toilets and parking?
• Will the hall provide tables, chairs, linen, crockery, cutlery and glasses etc? If hiring caterers they may provide these items.  PURE CATERING does provide these items.
• What cooking and cleaning facilities are available. Most wedding venues will only have a basic cooker and a single sink. Are refrigerators, tea urns etc. available? It is probable that most of the food will be prepared by caterers or at home, away from the hall, but enough worktops will be needed to store food and to add finishing touches to food displays.
• Find out where everything is in the wedding venues and how all the equipment operates in advance. Help may not be available on the day.
• Discuss when access can be gained to the wedding venues to prepare for the reception. For example it may not be possible to set up the tables the day before if the hall is booked for some other activity. When does the hall have to be vacated? Ensure that adequate time is left for clearing up.
• Will consumption of alcohol and smoking be allowed?

Marquee Wedding Venues

Hiring a marquee as wedding venues is an option if a large enough garden is available. Marquees come in varying sizes to accommodate most wedding parties. It allows the reception to be held at home when the house is not large enough. Flooring, dance floors, linings and lighting can also be hired and in the winter heating may also be necessary. A marquee is not an inexpensive option however.

Most marquee hire companies provide a brochure to allow you to choose the marquee wedding venues and other items such as flooring, matting, lighting etc. Choose a firm who are prepared to visit the site before accepting an order. This ensures that they will be aware of any possible problems the site may present. Also, ensure that they are prepared to be called out if any problems occur on the day of the wedding. Marquees are usually erected two or three days before the wedding day.

Caterers usually occupy a separate tent to prepare the food although they may require access the house kitchen.

It is usual to use toilet facilities in the house although for a large reception portable toilets may be hired.

Wedding Venues At Home

The wedding venues held at home is suitable for a small number of guests. It is informal and can be a more relaxed affair. It may also be less expensive than other options.

A sit-down meal is possible if the party is very small. However, the most practical option is to have a buffet. This not only adds to the informal atmosphere but also requires less equipment such as crockery and cutlery and people can serve themselves.

If not using outside caterers it is possible to hire crockery, glasses and even tea urns to boil water. Alternative you can borrow from friends or use disposable items.

Caterers can supply table linen, crockery and cutlery. They can also provide drinks. If the caterers are supplying the drinks they may only charge for bottles opened. If you are providing the drinks they may charge a little extra to serve drinks.

The caterer should visit the site of the wedding venues to allow him to decide what further equipment and facilities he will need to provide. For a small buffet they will bring the food already prepared and may only need washing up and coffee making facilities. For a larger event the caterer may need to bring a cooker and a fridge.

Most caterers will clear away. Discuss with the caterer when the clearing away will be done and if serving staff will be required after the meal to serve drinks. Also, ask if a member of staff will act as Master of Ceremonies and if they can organise the cutting and serving of the wedding cake.

Drinks

Guests are usually greeted at the wedding venues with a drink of sherry, Champagne or Bucks Fizz.

Wine is served with meals although a variety of drinks can be served with a buffet.

For the toasts champagne or sparkling wine should be served. If a white wine was served with the meal this is also acceptable for the toasts.

A plentiful supply of soft drinks and mineral water should also be available for people who have to drive and for children. Other guests may have the occasional soft drink particularly if an afternoon reception is to be followed by a an evening celebration.

Drinks are usually supplied by the management in hotels and restaurants. If you want to supply your own drinks they will charge a corkage fee. Hotels often provide a bar. The host can choose to pay for all bar drinks or allow guests to purchase their own. A third alternative is for the host to put a fixed sum of money “behind the bar” until it is spent when guests buy their own drinks. In some communities, e.g Jewish or Greek, it is not considered appropriate for guests to buy drinks. A licence is needed to sell alcohol and so it is illegal to sell drinks in most wedding venues halls or home wedding venues receptions.

When buying drinks for a wedding venues shop around. Many bottle shops offer discounts on bulk purchases or allow the return of opened bottles. Others may offer to lend glasses or supply free ice.

Organise a roster of people to serve at the bar if this is not one of the caterer’s duties. Most be people will be glad to help for a short period.

The Wedding Cake

The traditional wedding cake is a two or three tiered round or square fruit cake with marzipan decorated with royal icing. The softer fondant icing is becoming increasingly popular. Some couples choose other cakes such as suitably decorated sponge or chocolate cakes.

The cake can be decorated with coloured icing sugar piping, flowers made from sugar, a small vase or spray of real flowers or figures of the bride and groom or lucky horseshoe.

The cake is usually supplied by a specialist confectioner. The confectioner will have a brochure of their various sizes and styles of cakes and the type of decorations available. This will give the couple basic ideas which they can modify and personalise to design their perfect cake. A good cake supplier will have samples for you to taste. The confectioner should also be able to advise of the appropriate size of the cake for the number of guests.

When deciding on the size of cake remember that you may want to send some to people who are unable to attend the reception. It is traditional to keep the smallest, top tier of the cake for the first wedding anniversary or the christening of the first child.

Some caterers can supply the wedding cake as part of their reception service.

The wedding cake should be ordered at least three months in advance.
Because the cake can be baked months before the wedding it is possible to bake one at home in advance when not preoccupied with the last minute wedding venues arrangements. Cake tins of appropriate sizes are available for hire.

Some cake confectioners provide a cake decorating facility. This may be the solution if you have an old family cake recipe you want to use but are less confident about the your decorating skills.
The cake is usually delivered to the wedding venues on the morning of the reception. Ensure in advance that the cake supplier or the caterer will assemble the cake at the wedding venues and add any final decorations.

Wedding Venues Seating Plan

A seating plan should be drawn up for a formal wedding venues. The exact arrangement of tables will depend on the wedding venues. The top table will be for the wedding party and should include the couple, their parents, the best man and the chief bridesmaid. Ushers and other bridesmaids may also sit at the top table if places are available.

Suggested Seating Order at the Top Table

• Chief Bridesmaid
• Groom’s Father
• Bride’s Mother
• Bridegroom
• Bride
• Bride’s Father
• Groom’s Mother
• Best Man

As a general rule the closer relations and friends are seated nearest the top table. Some people choose to seat the bride’s family on one side of the wedding venues and the groom’s on the other side. However it is more important to combine people who will get on well together than to keep to any ‘rules’. After all, the wedding in many cultures is seen as a joining two families.  Seating plans are not necessary for buffet wedding venues although they are an option if there are enough seats for everyone present.

Wedding Venues Cutting the Cake

The cake is cut by the bride and groom after the speeches and toasts. The bride and groom together make the first cut, with a suitably ornate knife, in the bottom tier of the cake. The cake is then taken away and cut up by the caterers of some other designated person.

Some couples choose to cut the cake before the speeches. The cake can then be cut up while the speeches are taking place and served immediately after the toasts. The cake can be distributed by the waiters or the bridesmaids.

After the Formalities

After all the formalities music can begin in the wedding venues. The dancing is usually led by the bride and groom.

During the later part of the reception at the wedding venues the bride and groom should circulate and exchange a few words with all the guests and allow them to admire the wedding outfits at close range.

While the bride and groom change into their going away outfits guests can decorate the car with balloons, cans, shoes etc. Before leaving, the bride usually throws her bouquet to the unmarried female guests. Tradition holds that the one who catches it will be the next to marry.

Wedding Venues by Pure Catering

Watch Wedding Venues at Pure Catering on YouTube

Wedding Venues

Gourmet Beef Burger

Gourmet Beef Burger

Catering Brisbane

A professional catering company is more that simply a business that provides food.  Caterers provide experience, security, knowledge, expertise and the understanding that every situation that might arise is going to be handled with skill and attention to detail.

I don’t want to pick on other food establishments who provide some catering services.  I’m sure some of the thousands, if not millions of café’s, coffee shops, deli’s, pizza restaurants, takeaways and fish and chip shops who provide catering services to bolster their income do quite a good job.  However, to get the job done properly and safely, the best option is to engage a professional catering company.  However, a distinction should be drawn between a café etc that provides some catering and a professional catering company that has a café etc.  There is a difference and that difference should be noted.

Catering Brisbane

Experience:  There is no substitute for experience.  A professional catering company might do large party catering, corporate catering and wedding catering every day of the week.  With this type of experience a professional catering company would have encountered and overcome all kinds of obstacles and have got their operating method down so it is finely tuned.  If a caterer is in contact with clients every day, then the professional catering company would be able to offer the best advice, customer service, catering suggestions and be able to answer ALL of the clients’ questions.  A café might only be able to provide a small catering function once a week and their experience will be reflective of that fact.

Brisbane Catering

Skill:  A professional catering company will have the skills to provide you with the best food for your function.  Cooking gourmet food for one hundred people in a restaurant or café utilises a completely different skill set than cooking for one hundred people from a camp kitchen in a field with no electricity.  A professional catering company will have systems in place, methods, procedures and most importantly, checklists, to ensure that the catering event goes off without any problems.  There is no chance of “popping to the shop” if your caterer has forgotten something in a remote location.  Who do you want to be catering for you, the caterer who caters for functions like your every week, or a caterer who only does it once a year?

Brisbane Catering

Industry Expertise:  A professional catering company will work with all kinds of industry professionals, all of the time.  A professional catering company will work closely with photographers, staff hire companies, equipment hire companies, videographers, luxury car hire, flowers, wedding cakes and all the usual well known things that you need.  But a professional catering company will also know about services and products that you might not have even thought of, dancing lessons, free wedding websites among others.  It would be very unlikely that you would get this kind of service from your local ‘mum n pop’ style café.

Safety:  Food safety is extremely important!  A professional catering company will take food safety very seriously and it likely to have a refrigerated commercial vehicle in which to transport the food, or other contingencies in place to ensure that your catering is the absolute best quality it can be when it arrives at your catering event.

Whether is be canapés after work, barbecue catering in the local park, a corporate platters delivery on Melbourne Cup day or a sit down, three course wedding in a marquee, there is no substitute for a professional catering company.  Contact Pure Catering Brisbane TODAY!

Why Use a Professional Caterer?

Canapé Catering Brisbane

Canapé Catering

The traditional ‘stand-up’ style of catering is the time honoured canapé catering; also known as cocktail canapés, finger food or hor d’oeuvres. The concept of cocktail canapé catering started in France and was used to bridge the gap between the time when the guests arrived and the time when the guests sat down and were served their entrée. The French phrase ‘hors d’oeuvres’ literally translates as ‘outside the works’. The phrase was used by French chefs to indicate appetizers served apart from the main course of a dinner. Therefore, hors d’oeuvres are, quite literally, outside the main design of the meal. Canapés used to be a type of hors d’oeuvre, however in common modern day parlance all the variations on the phrase ‘hor d’oeuvres’ have come to mean the same thing, which I will call canapés.

As a general rule, following from the traditional French principal, canapés are served before a meal. If a bride and groom are having photos taken then the guests will be served some canapés while they wait. If people are drinking alcohol, traditionally cocktails as the name ‘cocktail canapés’ suggests, it is advisable to serve some canapés so that your guests can have some food in their stomaches and not just alcohol. In fact, it is law in some jurisdictions that food must be available if you are serving alcohol, check the liquor licensing Act in your jurisdiction.

Canapé Catering

Canapés are usually smaller portions of food that can be consumed within one or two bites. Popular menu selections can include; mini gourmet pies, crispy salt and pepper calamari, mini quiches, rustic style pate on mini toasts and many more.

In recent times, gourmet canapés have ceased to become ‘outside the works’ of a main meal but instead have become the focus of an event, and have become the main meal itself. As such, it has become a challenge among catering companies to find canapés which are more substantial in nature but still keep the intrinsic nature of being a canapé.

Noodle box canapés are fast becoming the most popular choice among discerning catering clients. Noodle box canapés or ‘fork and walk’ catering as it is sometimes known, is a noodle box or ceramic bowl of food which diners can eat whilst standing in the traditional way. Noodle box catering is designed to be a substantial meal by providing noodle boxes or bowls of food that your guests can happily eat whilst standing and walking.

Some examples of noodle box catering include; Thai green chicken curry with sticky rice, butter chicken with basmati rice and poppadums, classic beef casserole in red wine sauce with mashed potato, linguini carbonnara – smoked bacon, mushrooms, shaved parmesan in a garlic cream and even salads like, honey roasted kumara, spinach, shallots and pine nut with sesame dressing.

Canapé Catering

By utilising three or four different options it gives your guests the opportunity to sample a variety of different foods and flavours. Also most importantly, your guests will be sufficiently full after sampling all of your choices which means that they won’t leave your event hungry and it will help with regard to alcohol absorption, if you are serving alcohol.

Another popular style of catering is to splice traditional canapés with noodle box canapés. For example, four traditional canapés followed by two noodle box canapés and finished off with a final two traditional canapés; or any combination of the above.

Check out our website for more information of eco-friendly Brisbane noodle box catering for your function. Noodle Box Catering

Check out our website for more information of eco-friendly Brisbane canapés catering for your function. Canapé Catering Brisbane

Canapé Catering Brisbane

Wedding Venue Brisbane

Wedding Venue Brisbane

Which key questions should every bride and groom ask a prospective Wedding Venue Brisbane?  Here’s our rundown of the essential ten – article by Pure Catering Wedding Venue Brisbane experts who explain exactly why you need to ask them.

1. Will the Wedding Venue Brisbane be available on my wedding day?

Check a venue’s availability before even visiting.  Popular venues can be booked up to two years in advance during peak season. If you can be flexible with dates you’re less likely to be disappointed.

2. Is your Wedding Venue Brisbane easy to find?

Check directions on the venue’s website and see if the postcode is accurate for sat nav.  Include these details in with your invitations along with a map for your guests. Ideally find a venue within 20 to 30 minutes of your ceremony and if you’re worried about guests getting lost, you could provide transport, such as a coach or a London bus.

3. Is your Wedding Venue Brisbane licensed to carry out civil weddings?

Good wedding venues have this information readily available on websites or in brochures.  Your local registrar’s office should have a full list of venues holding a licence, but it is your responsibility to check the registrar’s availability. You can only give notice one year in advance of the wedding, but some registry offices allow you to provisionally hold dates for a year before you have to give notice.

4. Will ours be the only wedding at your venue?

If you don’t want to see another bride on your wedding day, you’ll need a venue with exclusive use.  This does sometimes come at a premium but for peace of mind it could be worth it. If a venue holds more than one wedding a day, ask how they do it – they’re often very good at keeping the weddings separate.

5. How many guests can you accommodate?

Look at numbers carefully when venue searching.  A venue may have limitations on capacity or parking. Be prepared to either re-jig your guest list or go back to the drawing board.

Wedding Venue Brisbane

6. Can we access all areas of the Wedding Venue Brisbane?

Ask about every aspect of access to and from the venue, and find out what access you can have to the grounds or gardens; there’s no point booking a venue for its beautiful lawns only to find out they are not for your use.

7. What are the rules and regulations?

Always ask about confetti and fireworks. Many venues do not allow them. Ask if candles are allowed on your tables and if they have to be fully contained in a storm lantern, or if candelabras are acceptable, etc. Enquire about noise limiters, especially if you want a band, and ask about curfew times; you can’t party until 1am if you have to be off the premises by midnight.

8. Do you offer discounts?

Many venues offer discounts for bridal parties, such as special room rates or discounts on spa treatments for the bride.  Flexibility on dates saves money too. One of our brides wanted a Saturday wedding but was on a tight budget. She eventually booked a Public holiday, which was cheaper – and no one had to get up for work in the morning.

9. Do you have a bridal suite?

A bridal suite should be one of the best rooms available and brides usually get a discount.  If your venue doesn’t have a bridal suite, it may be too far to travel to a lovely room elsewhere. And find out if guests can stay too; they enjoy the convenience and having breakfast together the next morning, but if it’s a popular venue you may need to block book rooms well in advance.

10. What does your Wedding Venue Brisbane offer that is extra special?

Not every venue advertises the extras offered to a bridal party.  You might get a complementary bottle of champagne, or breakfast in bed. Guests may be able to check in early, or there might be a special room for the bride to get ready in. These special extras enhance the day and ensure that the bride and groom feel like celebrities.

Pure Catering Brisbane has a wealth of experience when it comes to wedding catering and wedding venues Brisbane.  Pure Catering Brisbane are quite simply “head and shoulders” above all other Catering Brisbane.

Wedding Venue Brisbane

Wedding Cake Brisbane

Wedding Cake Brisbane

The main focus of most wedding receptions is the wedding cake Brisbane. Not many people leave the reception before the cake is cut, as it is an important tradition. Your wedding cake will feature in a lot of wedding photographs, which you will have to look at for years to come. Thus, you should take some time to choose the perfect wedding cake Brisbane.

Traditionally, wedding cakes used to be three tiered, and were covered with royal icing. Nowadays, there are hundreds of cakes that you can choose from, which vary in design, look, as well as taste. You can even get a wedding cake Brisbane customized to your own unique design and have just about any design under the sun.

When you are ready to start looking for the perfect wedding cake, these are the factors that you have to take into consideration in choosing the wedding cake:

• Size of the Cake: The size of the wedding cake will depend on the number of guests that you are expecting. If you are planning to save some cake for guests who could not accept your invitation and will be unable to attend, and are also planning to send your wedding cake to out-of-town invitees, then you should keep this in mind while determining the exact number of people.
• Design: Go through the cake sample pictures from different confectioners and bakers. Looking through wedding magazines is also a good way to find a wedding cake design. If you do not find something that you like, you can always design your own cake.
• Flavour: While it is important that a wedding cake appeal to the visual senses, it is even more important that it taste good. Else you may be left with a whole lot of inedible wedding cake. Choose from the regular vanilla or chocolate, fruit cake or sponge cake, cheesecakes, and even wedding cakes with a mousse filling. If you are tempted by different flavours and can’t make up your mind, you can have different tiers in different flavours!

Most bakers require you to place your order at least a couple of months in advance. So don’t leave choosing the wedding cake till the last minute, or else you just might have to do without.

At Pure Catering Brisbane we can help you with all of your wedding preperations from sourcing wedding cakes in Brisbane to using our extensive knowledge of wedding catering and helping you find your perfect Wedding Venue Brisbane.

Pure Catering Brisbane – Glossary Of Wedding Cake Terms

Confused between royal and butter icing? What is a ganache supposed to be? Is this actually something that can be eaten? Well, don’t worry your pretty head if you don’t understand wedding cake lingo. Here’s a glossary of wedding cake terms to help you out.

• Almond Paste: A paste made from ground almonds and sugar, with egg whites used optionally. This paste is used to make cake decorations. Almond paste is also known by the name of marzipan.
• Basketweave: This is a type of cake decoration where icing is used to make a woven basket like pattern on the wedding cake.
• Butter Icing: An icing made from butter, sugar, and milk. This is a cream coloured icing, but can be made in different colours using food colouring.
• Candy Dough: This is a mixture of cream of tartar, tragacanth gum, sugar, and water. This dough is used to make cake decorations and is also referred to as gum paste.
• Castor Sugar: A type of sugar that has granules bigger than powdered sugar but much smaller than regular grain sugar.
• Dragees: These are small balls of sugar that can be coated with chocolate, or silver and gold colours. They are used to decorate wedding cakes.
• Food Colouring: Dyes that can be used to change the colour of various foods. These dyes can be eaten and do not change the taste to a noticeable extent.
• Ganache: This is a mixture of chocolate and cream. It can either be used as a filling in the cake or for icing the wedding cake.
• Lattice Work: This is a way of icing wedding cakes in a criss-cross pattern, making it look like a lattice.
• Meringue: Castor sugar and egg white is beaten together to add air to the mixture, which is known as meringue. The meringue is then shaped and dried in an oven to hold the shape.
• Profiteroles: These are small balls made from pastry dough and are usually filled with whipped cream and covered with chocolate sauce.
• Royal Icing: An icing made from sugar and egg white. The icing is soft when fresh and is piped using a piping bag, but turns hard on drying.

Wedding Cake Brisbane

High Tea

High Tea

Just for a bit of fun, below is the “correct high tea” etiquette as traditionally practiced by high society in the 1800′s and 1900′s.  It is great to get a little history on the High Tea and where the tradition comes from.

High Tea Etiquette

English high tea is a term referring to an elaborate afternoon tea. English high tea is held in the afternoon around 2 p.m. Traditionally, loose leaf is brewed and served in tea cups with milk and lemon on the side. A slice of cake, biscuit or pastry also may be enjoyed on the side. Learning proper etiquette will help you have a better experience during your next tea time.

Holding the Tea Cup

When a tea cup has no handle, place the thumb at the 6 o’clock position and with the same hand use the index and middle fingers opposite at the 12 o’clock position. Slightly raise the pinkie for balance. The pinkie should not be sticking straight up. Pick up a tea cup with a handle by grasping the cup with the thumb in front of the handle, and index and middle fingers to the back. Again, slightly raise pinkie for balance and to avoid spills.

Stirring Tea

Do not stir tea in a circular motion. Rather take the spoon and gently lap the tea from the 6 o’clock position to the 12 o’clock position. Mix the tea gently, moving the spoon two or three times. Always remove the spoon and leave on the right side of the tea saucer.

Saucers

When at a buffet, hold the tea saucer in lap with the left hand while holding tea cup with the right. When not drinking from the tea cup, place back into saucer and hold with the left hand. Only hold the saucer with the tea cup when at a standing reception.

Milk versus Cream

Milk is served with tea and not cream. Cream is too heavy for tea and will cover the flavor. Always pour the tea first and then the milk into the tea cup to measure the appropriate amount of milk.

Lemon

Adding lemon to tea is a common practice. Thin slices of lemon are more appropriate than large lemon wedges. Serve lemon on a side dish with a small fork. Add the lemon to the tea once tea has been poured.

High Tea Menu

Below is an example of a traditional High Tea Brisbane menu.  We are able to tailor a menu to suit your exact needs;

Finger sandwiches including;

High Tea Menu

• Cucumber, cream cheese and chives
• Corn fed chicken breast with honey mustard and marjoram
• Free range hen’s eggs and Secretts Farm mustard cress
• Smoked Scottish salmon with horseradish
• Yellow fin tuna, sunblush tomatoes and rocket

• Warm selection of golden raisin scones and plain with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve
• Selection of French pastries and specialist mini cakes
• Popcorn meringue with salted caramelia
• 64% Valrhona chocolate chantilly
• Rose, lychee and raspberry dome
• Lemon drizzle
• Seasonal tart
• Wedding Cake Brisbane

High Tea Brisbane

Wedding Catering

wedding-catering

Wedding catering should not be overlooked when it comes to organising your big day.  Obviously there are lots of things which need to be sorted out when it comes to arranging the ceremony. With the likes of the dress, the ring and floral arrangements not to mention venue and transport hire it is easy to forget wedding catering until the last minute. However laying on a nice spread for all the guests is one sure-fire way of ensuring you have a day to remember.

First of all that you ought to recall is usually the budget. Your allowance will help you determine the species of catering service that you could afford to have. Should you have set your financial budget aside, you need to stick with it and simply not get above which is really affordable. Jointly with your budget clearly stated, it is also possible to narrow your plan of action and base it on a home reception, this venue may give you catering services that might be in charge of your meal preparations. In the event the venue does not offer food service preparation, you have got to find affordable wedding catering Brisbane.

It is important that you invest in first class wedding catering to make sure the day goes swimmingly.  Many people travel far afield to attend a ceremony so it seems only fair that they should be provided with some form of sustenance. Whether you would prefer outside catering or an indoor spread, there are a number of options when it comes to food. These range from canapés and buffets to three course set menus and hog roasts. In other words there are types of wedding catering to suit all sorts of culinary tastes. Obviously you need to be aware that people have differing tastes and dietary requirements. As well as people who are not fans of things like cheese, fish and spicy food, you will also have to satisfy those with gluten and nut allergies as well as vegans and vegetarians. Arguably the key to wedding catering therefore is to provide a good choice.

All in all you do not want to hang around when it comes to feeding your guests. Proper wedding catering firms can build a bespoke menu to suit your requirements so it is worth thinking about the food well in advance. A well considered spread is guaranteed to go down well so whether inside or outside catering is your preferred choice you should choose your culinary delights carefully.

Obtaining reliable wedding catering.  If you are struggling to organise your wedding catering then you should definitely pay a visit to the Pure Catering Wedding Catering Brisbane page on our website NOW!

Wedding Catering