Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

October 30th, 2009 @ 4:31 pm by Miss Trail Mix

As we’re in the midst of picking a caterer and all the madness that comes along with designing a menu within our budget, I wanted to share my idea for dessert. Mr Trail Mix and I decided almost immediately that a big, fancy wedding cake was just not in the cards for us. I love wedding cakes; many of them could be pieces of art, in my mind. BUT… it just didn’t feel like a big ol’ cake fit with our country wedding theme.

And I had another idea turning over in my head. June in upstate New York is strawberry season! Not only that, but strawberry is one of Mr Trail Mix’s all-time favorite flavor. Score!

So we started thinking about cake with strawberries on it, or even strawberry shortcake. Something along the lines of this:

(Source)

But we realized after talking to our first caterer that having a cake big enough to feed 175 people that looked like that wasn’t feasible. So we started thinking about individual-sized strawberry shortcakes, like this:

(Source)

I was pretty set on this option until another caterer gave us some negative news. She warned that whipped cream at an outdoor wedding in June could be very dicey. And apparently, we’re about a week too early to be using local strawberries. Bummer. But I still love the idea of incorporating strawberries into the dessert, so now we’re thinking a strawberry tart; maybe like this, only smaller:

(courtesy of the wonderful Miss Martha)

I haven’t completely given up on the idea of strawberry shortcake though. We’ll see what happens after we actually pick our caterer.

Alright, now that I’ve wiped the drool off of my mouth and computer, what do you think? Aren’t strawberry desserts pretty? I feel it is keeping with our light-hearted, outdoor, simple country wedding theme while still tasting like heaven on a plate… I used to go with my family to a pick-your-own strawberry farm nearby and I remember eating as many as I could while picking, because fresh, sun-warmed strawberries might be one of the best things on earth.

Having a strawberry-themed dessert is not only for Mr Trail Mix and his palate, but as part of an homage to my hometown and childhood. Nostalgia and tastiness in harmony? Check. And done.

Anyone else choose an alternative to wedding cake for their dessert? What is it?

Tags: cake, food |

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21 Responses to “Strawberry Shortcake”

Bee

Miss Frozen Yogurt (message) 865 posts, Busy bee

Yum! I love strawberry desserts. And if you do anything miniature I’m a fan. Individual tarts? So cute!! And it fits perfectly with the two of you, so even better!

10/30/09 @ 4:39 pm (reply)

Member

Kac1014 (message) 5 posts, Newbee

LOVE this!! Strawberries are definitely my favorite food and I would love to incorporate them into my wedding day. Although I want a traditional cake, maybe I can find another place to sneak them in. I love your idea of individual shortcakes though…makes my mouth water just looking at the pics!

10/30/09 @ 4:46 pm (reply)

Member

SaxonDancer02 (message) 16 posts, Newbee

We were not cake people either, and my husband’s favorite dessert is strawberry pie. So we cut the pie! In addition to that, had cupcakes and cookies that my mom and I baked. It was more of a dessert bar and a better reflection of our tastes. Plus he has a theory that you have to serve people cake but they will line up for pie…and they did!

10/30/09 @ 4:53 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Moonbeam (message) 1,328 posts, Bumble bee

I’m sure whatever you choose it will be gorgeous, and it’ll just be another pop of color at your cheery wedding.

10/30/09 @ 5:34 pm (reply)

Member

krissycake (message) 2,083 posts, Buzzing bee

Umm, this makes me super hungry…I think you should have mini strawberry tarts!!

10/30/09 @ 5:52 pm (reply)

Member

Ms. Coffee Bean (message) 3 posts, Wannabee

Strawberry Shortcake is my favorite dessert! Instead of doing a tiered cake we are doing 4-5 round cakes with different flavors. Strawberry Shortcake HAS to be one of them!

10/30/09 @ 5:53 pm (reply)

Member

sadie (message) 94 posts, Worker bee

We did a two tier wedding cake (hubby’s fave is carrot cake so that was the bottom tier) but then we had pies and a tart since I LOVE pie and it’s a big family tradition to serve it on birthdays, etc.. since we weren’t a cake family. The pies and tart were a huge hit at the wedding. I say definitely go with something non-traditional that speaks to both of you (palate and childhood). You won’t regret it…just make sure you are able to get some, we weren’t able to try many of the pies since they were gobbled up so quickly!

10/30/09 @ 5:58 pm (reply)

Hostess

Jessie516 (message) 3,976 posts, Honey bee

What a great idea! That dessert looks awesome!! My mom used to let us have strawberry shortcake once in a while in the summer for dinner. I used to think it was the coolest thing!

10/30/09 @ 6:06 pm (reply)

Member

maisymay (message) 127 posts, Blushing bee

This looks great! If you haven’t picked out your favors, you could do small jars of homemade jam for each couple, or something like that. Either way, it’ll be delicious!

10/30/09 @ 6:21 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Pretzel (message) 333 posts, Helper bee

Strawberry shortcake is one of my fav breakfast indulgences… no really try it in the AM for breakfast- awesome.

10/30/09 @ 6:43 pm (reply)

11.

Member

tea (message) 2,609 posts, Sugar bee

oh strawberry shortcakes! its a bummer you won’t be able to have those but hopefully you’ll find another yummy strawberry treat

10/30/09 @ 6:48 pm (reply)

12.

Member

ScarletJwl (message) 146 posts, Blushing bee

That looks so yummy! Strawberry shortcakes are one of our favorites too! I like the idea of the individual strawberry shortcakes - maybe you can offer them as one of a couple of choices?

I also really like maisymay’s idea of strawberry jam!

10/30/09 @ 6:58 pm (reply)

13.

Member

llc2011 (message) 458 posts, Helper bee

Love Love Love Strawberries!! And I remember strawberry picking when I was little (my parents still have the pictures up at home)… they wouldn’t tell us til the end that we could eat the strawberries so a lot of the younger pics are of me stuffing my face cause I was just told I could eat them.

10/30/09 @ 7:46 pm (reply)

14.

Member

mrspaetz (message) 1,707 posts, Bumble bee

you just made me very hungry looking at those pictures, so i say, strawberries are AWESOME!

10/30/09 @ 11:32 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

busylizzy

In Germany, I’ve seen a lot of strawberry heart cakes in the last years like that one http://www.baeckerei-sickinger.de/images/bildergallerien/besondere_torten/erdbeerherz.jpg

10/31/09 @ 6:16 am (reply)

16.

Bee

Miss French Fries (message) 732 posts, Busy bee

Yummmmmm….now I want some strawberry shortcake!

10/31/09 @ 10:41 am (reply)

17.

Member

slicey19 (message) 799 posts, Busy bee

One of the best wedding cakes I’ve had was a giant single layer, heart shaped strawberry topped cake. It must have helped that the bride’s uncle owns a bakery because I’ve never seen a cake like this before or since. It was vanilla cake with a tall layer of that fresh strawberry in gelatin tart topping. Maybe you could look info something similar, since it was only one layer of cake, I imagine it could be done with two sheet cakes and fresh strawberry topping.

11/1/09 @ 4:36 pm (reply)

18.

Guest

Carlee

We’re thinking of having strawberry shortcake too, since it’s strawberry season in Washignton State in June. We’re also having difficulty figuring out the best way to serve it, so keep us posted!

11/2/09 @ 12:15 pm (reply)

19.