The Details

Yesterday I posted the menu that we decided on for our dessert bar at Jenny's wedding.  Henceforth, this bar will be referred to as "The Sweet Bean," as that is what we finally chose to name it!

Today I will go down the list of items served at The Sweet Bean, and provide recipes for each dessert, as well as pictures to go along with them!

Whippersnaps

(This recipe yields between 40 and 50 cookies, depending on how big you make them.)

• 1 box of cake mix (the flavor of your choosing; we used strawberry, lemon, and chocolate.)
• About 2 cups of frozen whipped topping, thawed (I saw "about" because I eye-balled it.)
• 1 egg
• Powdered sugar for dipping
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, the whipped topping, and the egg.  It will take a while for the dough to form, so be prepared for your stirring arm to get tired!
• Form tablespoons of dough into balls, and roll them in the powdered sugar. (I used less than a full tablespoon of dough for each cookie, because they are prettier and sturdier the smaller they are.)
• Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet about an inch apart.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool. 

Mini Banana Nut Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

(We made 445 of these.  I used the original recipe I found here, with some small modifications.  This recipe makes about 12 regular sized muffins, or 24 mini muffins.)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose four
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• handful of walnuts
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and grease a muffin, or mini muffin pan.  Or line with cupcake papers (which is what we did).
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and nuts.  Set aside.
• Combine bananas, applesauce, sugar, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl.
• Fold in the flour mixture, and mix until smooth.  Then scoop the batter into the muffin pans.
• Since our muffins were mini, I baked them for 12 minutes.  If you make regular sized muffins, you will probably bake them for 25 to 30 minutes.  

For the cream cheese frosting, I used this recipe.  It turned out great, and held up wonderfully at room temperature.  The icing actually sat on the muffins at room temp for a few days before the wedding, and it was still fine!   Because we had some many muffins to dollop, I made six batches of this stuff, and had the perfect amount for the job.  So, a word to the wise:  if you are planning on making large quantities of frosting, begin the process in advance!!!

Cake Pops

(We made somewhere in the ballpark of 300 of these puppies.  People LOVED them.  You can fine a basic recipe for bake balls here, and then you can mix and match cake and icing flavors, as well as the chocolate coatings and toppings.)

An important note about cake balls:  After baking the cakes, and mixing them with icing, it is best to let them sit in the fridge for, well, as long as you like, before trying to form them into balls.  Some of our mixes sat in the fridge for hours before we formed them into balls. 

After forming the mixture into balls, you will want to let the balls set in the fridge for a while, or in the freezer for a few minutes, before attempting to dip them.  Otherwise, they will fall apart during the process.

I am NOT an expert on cake balls.  If you had watched Jenny and me make them, you would probably have laughed at the mess we made, and at how many cake balls we lost! Angie (aka: Bakerella); however, IS the expert.  And you can watch her step-by-step cake pop instructions here.   Warning:  She makes these little buggers look much easier and less time consuming that they actually are!

 We got the idea for the Neapolitan cakes here, but ended up using the recipe from Annie's Eats.  We had A LOT of cakes to make, so we doubled everything... three or four times!!!  Eventually, we had enough batter to make three, 12" layers, three, 9" layers, and three, 6" layers.  We also used the recipe for the strawberry layer of this cake to make Jenny and Matt's small cake that they used to cut and feed to one another.   

 

For the filling for the Neapolitan cakes, we used raspberry preserves and the same buttercream icing that we used for the outside of the cakes.  We also did this to fill Jenny and Matt's small cake.  

Buttercream Icing 

Let me warn you, TONS of shortening was used in the making of this icing.  For practical, aesthetic, and taste reasons, I chose not to use butter at all.  So the name "Buttercream" is a bit misleading...

• 2 cups white, all-vegetable shortening
• 2 tsp CLEAR vanilla extract (if you use regular, it will give your icing a strange tint.)
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 lbs. (one bag/about 8 cups) of confectioners' sugar, 10x's sifted
• 2 tbsp Meringue Powder (I used Wilton)
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream shortening, flavoring, and water.  Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until all ingredients have been thoroughly mixed together.  This takes a while.  You may want to turn your mixer on, and then walk away for a few minutes while it does its thing!  
• After the icing is mixed well, you may find that it is too thick.  If so, add a tsp of water for each cup of powdered you used, and then turn the mixer back on until the water is incorporated into the icing.  
• You can store this icing for several days at room temp.  If you choose to do this, make sure you store the icing in ROUND, AIR-TIGHT containers.  

(We used somewhere between 6 and 10 batches of this for the wedding... I lost count eventually...) 

To decorate the Neapolitan cakes, I wanted something easy, but also knew that Jenny would want something fun, kinda classy, and simple too.  I got the idea for the Rosette design here,  and am SO happy with the way it turned out in all-white! It is just Jenny's style!

 Moving right along...

We used the same recipe for the Mint Oreo cake that we used for the chocolate layer of the Neapolitan cake.   We made four, 10" layers, and then turned the layers into two, 2-layer cakes.  

 For the Mint Chocolate Ovaltine frosting, we chose this recipe, with some minor changes.  Since we wanted the cake to have a minty hint to it, we used 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, and 1/2 tsp of mint, rather than just 1 tsp of vanilla.  I think we ended up using about six batches of this stuff, but don't quote me on that.  

We coated the tops and sides of these cakes with off-brand Oreos.  To give the cookies a minty taste, after we put them in the food processor, we dumped them into a bowl, threw a healthy amount of mint extract in there with them, and stirred it around a little.  Then we put our make-shift Mint Oreos all over the cake. 

 

Without question, the best smelling dessert at the reception was the pumpkin cake on the groom's table.  These things were Jenny's babies.  I made the frosting, but Jenny made each of the four, 9" pumpkin cakes.  They smelled like fall, and were absolutely beautiful!  You can find the original recipe here.  The only things Jenny did differently were to omit the nuts, and use regular flour rather than wheat, because we did not have any wheat flour on hand.  

To ice the pumpkin cake, Jenny said she wanted something "simple and rustic."  So, I went with this Brown Sugar Icing.  I followed the recipe exactly, but quadrupled it.  I definitely could have gotten away with tripling it instead.  Now I know for next time...

The Sweet Bean was only one of many sweet touches in the Elliot Wedding. 

 

Matt and Jenny's love story, and their lives, are centered around Christ.  Knowing that about them, and seeing that acted out in their relationship and in their lives, made every moment of their wedding day sweet.  

It was such an honor to be a part of their wedding day, and of the planning process in some small way!