cheese cake

So you may know by this point that Stefan and I have a little bit of an obsession with cheese.  So much so that we decided to have cheese (and I mean really copious amounts of cheese) as our wedding cake.

We knew from the get-go that the cake's bottom tier would be Stefan's absolute favorite cheese: Appenzeller Extra - a Swiss, spicy mountain cheese that hails from the Appenzell region of Stefan's homeland.  He loves it so much that during my very first trip to Switzerland, we visited the factory together learning (in Swiss German, of course) how this exclusive specialty has a guaranteed maturing period of six months in carefully monitored damp cellars.

Only problem with this Fischer favorite is that it comes at a very high price in the US - a wheel runs you any where from $450 to 600 stateside.  In Switzerland, however, you can get one for $100ish, leading Stefan to a brilliant idea: we would simply bring a wheel back in our suitcase. 
(Never mind that the US customs form explicitly states dairy products are prohibited from crossing the border; they would never notice 25 pounds of unpasteurized, pungent Swiss cheese among t-shirts and undergarments.)

A few weeks before our planned cheese heist, we got some very professional legal advice from our immigration lawyer:
Him: "You just got your green card and you're going to bring WHAT into the country?"
Stefan: "A wheel of cheese."
Him: "A WHEEL of CHEESE?  You're not serious."
Stefan: "Yes, we are.  Do you know how much a wheel of Appenzeller Extra costs here?"
Him: "Do you know much it will cost you to get out of customs prison?"

While that put the kibosh on our cheese-money-saving plans, the Cheese School of San Francisco was able to procure the wheel in question legally and at US wholesale prices.  We worked with them to craft not only a cake we loved and adored, but a whole bar of cheeses we couldn't wait to share with our guests.

 

We were insistent that our 20 varieties of cheeses be choices that our guests wouldn't have just any old day.  We wanted them to be able to try something new, maybe even finding a new favorite, from Stefan's land of cheese (Switzerland) or my land of cheese (Wisconsin) or our shared land of cheese (California) or from some other land of cheese (France, Vermont, Spain, Holland) that was just too good to pass up. 

A few weeks before the wedding, we went into the Cheese School to do our tasting.  As soon as we saw the gigantic board with samplings of 20 cheeses we had never tried before, we knew it was going to be a sensational night.  We spent the next 3 hours eating, laughing, learning, and getting excited for more cheese to come. 

 

Many have asked for the cheese winners that made it onto our special night's final menu (and cheese bar), so today I'm unveiling them so you too can experience cheese-filled bliss.

 

In the cake:

These guys are all ones we were excited to have a full wheel of post-wedding and after nearly 5 weeks, we've got very little of them left, which might tell you a thing or two about their deliciousness.  (And perhaps Stefan and my consumption of cheese.) 

• Bottom tier: Appenzeller Extra - see above
• Second tier: Landaff - a mild, semi-firm raw cow's milk cheese
• Third tier: Blu di Langa  - a creamy, luxurious blue
• Fourth tier: Fat Bottom Girl - a Northern California farmstead cheese where no two wheels are alike
• Top tier: Valancy - a tangy young goat's milk cheese

 

Throughout the table:

• Brillat Savarin - like butter, the bacon of all cheeses, you cannot help but love this creamy deliciousness: I could literally go at it with a spoon - so much better than a pint of Ben & Jerry's
• Bonne Buche - meaning "good mouthful", this young, ash-ripened goat cheese is the flagship of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery's lineup
• Epoisses - this Burgundy-based pungent unpasteurized cows-milk cheese is smear-ripened (washed in a local pomace brandy) and was once a favorite of Napoleon's
• L'Amuse - this Dutch Gouda is hand-selected and shipped to special maturing facilities where (unlike most Dutch Goudas which are matured at cooler temperatures) they experience mid temperature affinage which allows the cheese to develop a fully rounded flavor
• Lamp Chopper - this sheep's milk cheese is buttery and mild, yet complex and elegant, you can't go wrong with this crowd pleaser
• Challerhocker - this Appenzeller spin-off literally translates to "sitting in the cellar" which is exactly where this St. Gallen cheese develops its dense and creamy, savory flavor
• Comte - a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk which you may have sampled before; you've probably only tried one aged 8-12 months, but to get the full Comte experience, step it up a notch to one aged 24 months, or if you really want to go big, head to L'Arpege in Paris where they are known to carry a 4 year old Comte
• Clothbound Cheddar - a Vermont, natural-rinded, traditional cheddar aged a minimum of 10 months bandaged in muslin - sweet, savory, nutty, and tangy all at once
• Forme au Moelleux - one of France's oldest blue cheeses which is washed in a sweet white wine, a perfect and interesting cross between a brie and a blue
• Dunbarton Blue - if your traditional cheddar and blue cheeses had a baby, this would be it: a Wisconsin-born blue-veined cheddar that is gaining popularity by the minute, get it while it's hot
• Garroxta - a Spanish goat's milk cheese made in a small artisanal creamery in the Catalonia region, the flavor is milky and delicate with a hint of nuttiness and a smooth, clean finish
• Tomme Crayeuse - a French raw cow's milk, tomme-style cheese with a chalky (=crayeuse in French) multi-flavor and texture interior
• Piacentino - scented with saffron and studed with black peppercorns, this cheese will surprise you in more ways than one (see picture above for visual)
• Chevre with Pickled Figs - a Cheese School home-blend, simply mix pickled figs (available at any cheese shop) with your favorite brand of Chevre and you're golden, a fabulously easy way to impress at your next dinner party

 

 

So the next time you're putting together a cheese plate and want to take it up a notch from your traditional brie, blue, and blah, think of the above-mentioned varieties: I promise they won't disappoint.

 

xoxo

KK