To create foods that went along with the theme, I tried to come up with two foods that could have been eaten by each couple (Elizabeth and Darcy, Ariel and Eric, Anne and Gilbert, Victoria and Albert, Alicia and Devin). I had "discreetly" interviewed A some time before ("So...what would you say your favorite fruits were? mmhmm, and how about your favorite kinds of desserts? Chocolate? Milk or dark? Oh, I see, mmhmm...") I also wanted to maintain a balance of sweet and savory foods so that there would be something for everyone. Because the shower was also a tea party, I wanted several "traditional" things that you might find if you had high tea someplace fancy.
The place to start was with tea sandwiches. Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches have been a must at an tea party my mom has had growing up. I also happen to love chicken salad, so I thought I would do both to have a veggie and non-veggie option. Chicken of the Sea came to my mind, which made me think of Ariel and Eric, but of course they could never eat fish again, so I made "Chicken of the Land" and "Sea" Cucumber sandwiches. Couple #1, check!
A most memorable scene in Anne of Green Gables is when Anne accidentally gets her friend Diana drunk on currant wine, mistakenly thinking it is raspberry cordial. Jello is always a colorful option at parties, and cheap, so I decided I would put Jello in plastic stemware and call it raspberry cordial gelatins. Doesn't have to do with Anne and Gilbert, but oh well. The second treat I came up with was based on an experience the bride to be had had the summer before when she visited Prince Edward Island and visited the Singing Sands. Apparently the beaches there, when you walk on them, make a lovely noise. I had just come across this pin on Pinterest, so Singing Sand Pudding it was! Couple #2, check!
For Pride and Prejudice the first thing that came to my mind was "frosty hearts cookies," glazed sugar cookies, because Elizabeth and Darcy were quite frosty towards one another for most of the novel. A told me she loves raspberries, so I also thought of raspberry upside-down cake, since the emotions in the novel are so topsy-turvy. I'd never heard of raspberry upside-down cake, but Pinterest assured me it was possible with a variety of options. I went with this one, and then changed the nectarines for apricots which are in season right now. The gingerbread cake with the fruit and brown sugar made a great combination, imo. Couple #3, check!
Too many sweets. Need more savory. Victoria and Albert had me briefly stumped. I needed tea things that were savory, and not a lot of work. I entertained the idea of ordering some sweets from the bakery, but they were all things that I could do myself, so easy it was. I thought a cheese platter could be nice. Then I remembered that Prince Albert was a prince from Germany. England, Germany, a marriage of cheeses! And some American crackers thrown in! I knew it would be easy to find English cheddar (or any other cheese from the UK could work). I wasn't sure about the German cheese. I searched several stores and googled any names that sounded German. Most were American from the midwest, including Limburger. It was originally from Germany so it could have worked, except the wikipedia article mentioned something about B.O., so I rejected it. Champignon de Luxe was a French-sounding brand with a German sounding "knoblauch" cheese. Google told me it was German for "garlic" and that it was, in fact, a German brand. Score. Couple #4, check!
And then for the feature couple! I had also, discretely interviewed the groom about what he liked ("Say, D, for no particular reason at all, what would you say are some of your favorite foods?") He sent me back a list of some good junk foods, most of which would have been hard to dress up for a tea party. But he did say he liked little smokies. Having seen mini versions of pigs in a blanket disappear at many a fête, I decided those would be "his" food. A had mentioned how much she liked the combo of chocolate and raspberries, so I thought of chocolate mousse in a chocolate basket with raspberries to garnish. If you want to make chocolate baskets, check out this post from Childmade Tutorials (my level of finesse!). Skip the balloon dipping business. That was a disaster for me.
For each food item, I made a sign explaining what the item was, and why the guests would love it. It's also a helpful place to signal any allergy-inducing foods (gluten, nuts, dairy, etc) for your special food needs guests.
Here is my recipe for chocolate mousse, from Julie Andrieu's French cookbook Le B.A.-ba du Chocolat
"Mousse au chocolat classique"
400g chocolate 70% cocoa or higher (I just used semi-sweet chips...)
100g (1 stick is close enough) butter
10 egg whites
100g sugar
Melt the chocolate over low heat or in a double boiler. When the chocolate begins to melt, stir it gently with a spatula until it is melted. Add the butter in cubes and stir until the mixture is smooth.
In a large bowl beat the egg whites on high with an electric mixer. When bubbles begin to hold add the sugar and continue beating until soft peaks form.
Add a little of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir to aerate the chocolate. Then add the chocolate to the egg whites and fold them together with a supple plastic spatula. (See here for a tutorial on how to fold properly). You want to be sure you are folding, not mixing, so you don't break the egg whites.
Let the mousse sit at least 2 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
To put it in the chocolate baskets, pipe it in with a pastry bag and large star tip.
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