For Weddings and Celebration Dinners
As my friends and family will know, and regular readers of Lavender and Lovage too, I am a cheese addict! I love the stuff and have been known to over indulge at certain times of the year……..I have posted cheese board ideas here over the years too, with all kinds of ideas and recipes for cheese accompaniments, but my latest cheesy obsession has been for the spectacular towers of cheese that are often served at weddings nowadays, and so enter my latest creation for Summer French Cheese Cake Tower. The cheese cake tower, also called a cheese wheel or a tiered cheese cake is a brilliant idea, and I don’t know why I didn’t come up with the idea a long time ago, being a “cheeseaholic”, I feel I may have missed out on many years of towering cheesiness!
So, after attending a wedding last year in France where one of these Cheese Cake Towers was served, albeit not decorated, and after many hours perusing Pinterest and the web, I decide to break out of my boring cheese board serving habits and make one for a recent celebratory meal, as why should the bride and groom have all the cheesy pleasure?! Today I am sharing my FIRST cheese cake tower creation, as I plan to do three more to closely follow the seasons. Today’s cheese cake tower is made from French cheeses, and is a summer cheese cake tower, insofar as I have used herbs and flowers from my summer garden. I decided on a pastel theme of pink, green, mauve and yellow, and I think you’ll agree my cheese cake looks very summery and as pretty as a picture.
Today’s recipe for my Summer French Cheese Cake Tower would be perfect for a summer wedding, as well as any family get-together or celebratory meal….and, the cheese cake has been made TWICE now at Chez Lavender and Lovage, as my lovely friend Janice from Farmersgirl Kitchen also made one when she was on holiday here last week, for a BBQ I was hosting! Janice also decorated her cheese cake tower with freshly picked herbs and flowers from my garden, and her creation was just gorgeous, with the guests really “ooooohing and aaaaaahing” over it. You can read all about Janice’s stay with us in the Charente Maritime here: French Cheese Cake in the Charente Maritime, as well as see how pretty her cheese cake tower was too, and I’ve also shared a photo below of the cheese tower after being served and cut.
The main principals for making a cheese cake tower as follows:
- Choose at least 4 cheeses to give the tower height.
- Try to choose a cow’s milk cheese, goat’s milk cheese, hard cheese, soft cheese and a blue cheese to make your cheese cake, to give your guests lots of variety and choice.
- The cheeses must be big enough to stand the next cheese on comfortably in the tower, with a ledge/rim of at least 2″ (5cms) to 3″ (8cms) around the edge, so it is easy for your guests to cut the cheese in the tower.
- Make sure you serve the cheeses at room temperature, but if it is very hot, then make sure the cheese cake tower is stored in a cool place before serving.
- Allow about 40zs (100g) of cheese per person, and make sure there is plenty of bread and crackers close by.
- As well as herbs and flowers, fruit and nuts are also a great way to decorate the cheese cake tower.
- Chutney and relishes will go well with this cheesy creation, so try to make sure you have some of them on offer, next to the bread and crackers.
I hope that my recipe today, which is shared below, will inspire you to make your own cheese cake tower this summer. My cheese cake tower was made with: Brie for the bottom layer, Saint Nectaire, Tomme, Bresse Bleu and then a little Crottin Chèvre for the top layer. These are JUST suggestions of course, but it made for a very well balanced cheese cake tower with a variety of different textures, tastes and strengths. Don’t forget do pop back later to see my next seasonal cheese creation, and have fun if you make this, and please do let me know too! Karen
Summer French Cheese Cake Tower
Serves | 16 to 20 |
Prep time | 30 minutes |
Dietary | Vegetarian |
Meal type | Dessert, Side Dish |
Misc | Gourmet, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold |
Occasion | Barbecue, Birthday Party, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Thanksgiving, Valentines day |
Region | French |
By author | Karen Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 1 x whole Brie cheese
- 1 x whole Saint Nectaire cheese
- 1 x whole Tomme cheese
- 1 x whole Bresse Bleu cheese
- 1 x small Crottin goat's cheese
- small pink rose buds and flowers (plus one larger rose for the top)
- fennel flowers
- lavender flowers
- rosemary leaves
Note
Summer French Cheese Cake Tower - a spectacular tower of French cheeses, this tiered cheese tower is perfect for any summer wedding or celebration dinners.
Directions
Step 1 | Place the wheel of Brie onto a wooden board or large platter that is suitable for cutting cheese. |
Step 2 | Sit the Saint Nectaire cheese on top of the brie, followed by the Tomme, Bresse Bleu and finally the small Crottin goat's cheese on top. |
Step 3 | Starting at the bottom, push the fennel flowers and buds in and around the base of the Saint Nectaire cheese, making sure they are pushed in all the way around. |
Step 4 | Between the Tomme cheese and the Saint Nectaire cheese, do the same with the lavender flowers; arrange the rosemary leaves in and around the base of the Bresse Bleu which is next and finally push the tiny pink roses and rose buds around the base of the Crottin goat's cheese. |
Step 5 | Place the larger pink rose on top of the Crottin cheese and place any posies of the same flowers and herbs around the base of the cheese cake tower if you have any to hand. |
Step 6 | NB: This is a Summer French Cheese Cake Tower using hand picked herbs and flowers that I had in my garden at the time, but, you can use any seasonal flowers and herbs you have available, wherever you live, and you can also match the colours to any wedding bouquets or celebratory table settings. |
Other Cheese Cake Tower and Wheel Recipes:
![Cake made of cheese](https://i0.wp.com/www.lavenderandlovage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Cake-made-of-cheese.jpg?resize=480%2C640&ssl=1)
Image: FoodieQuine
How to build a tiered cheese wheel ‘cake’
![Cheese Cake Wheel](https://i0.wp.com/www.lavenderandlovage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/chese-cake-close-up-e1442255072142-442x680.jpg?resize=442%2C680&ssl=1)
Image: Simple Bites
DIY Perfect Cheese Wheel Wedding Cake
![cheese-wedding-cake-uk-wedding](https://i0.wp.com/www.lavenderandlovage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cheese-wedding-cake-uk-wedding.jpg?resize=452%2C680&ssl=1)
Image: Green Bride Guide
Lavender and Lovage Summer French Cheese Cake Tower
Janice says
It’s amazing how different they can look with a different selection of flowers and foliage, a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing my cheese cake and for the lovely holiday with you x
Karen Burns-Booth says
I know Janice! The same cheeses and the same flowers and herbs at out disposal, but very different in design and looks! We BOTH loved having you here with us, and we also managed to have a mini holiday with you too, which was nice!
Julia Coomes says
What a fabulous idea. An interesting alternative to the usual Strawberry Cheesecake.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks Julia! It’s a great idea to jazz up the cheeseboard and it looks so spectacular too!
Johanna GGG says
This looks brilliant – I love cheese too and would welcome this as much as a chocolate cake (which is saying something) – I think I would love a stack of crackers with ever decreasing sizes beside it for me 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
I know what you mean Johanna! I would also prefer this to a chocolate cake too! 🙂 And a stack of crackers is also a fab idea, and I may do that next time! Karen
Claire Jessiman says
I am loving this so much! I really want to make another one now as it’s almost 4 years since I made mine. I like the idea of one with only Scottish Cheese.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Yes, they are quite addictive once you make one, and also if you are a cheese lover! Thanks for popping over Claire! Karen
verushka says
Such beautiful way to serve cheese instead of on a boring cheese platter. I rather like the celebration cake feel to it.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much! It is very celebratory isn’t it Verushka?
Blair Villanueva says
Yay cakes! Lovely and pretty designs, quite tempting but sinful 😉 My I know that my camera will like it (feeding my camera with photos of cheese cakes)
Karen says
Not just cakes Blair, but cakes made of CHEESE! 🙂
Lavues says
Oh god the cheese really looked mouth-watering, I’m craving for cheese so much now!
Karen says
It’s a cheese lovers dream Lavues!
indrani says
Beautiful food styling done in this. I don’t think I can cut it up and eat it. 🙂
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you so much, it was fun to make as well as eat too!
Paola says
This is such a wonderful idea to serve cheeses! I’ve neer thought about it, but it looks awesome!