Posts Tagged ‘Valentine’s Day’
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Cheese is Romantic!
Perhaps not everyone thinks of cheese first for Valentine’s Day, but how is this for a romantic surprise: hearts and flowers made purely of rich, beautiful Windsor Red. Yes, really, the flowers are cheese.
Windsor Red is a bright, eye-catching and delicious medley of flavor.
A traditional mix of Port and Brandy is responsible for creating the dramatic color cascade. The rich red blend is very similar in taste to Elderberry wine but has a bit more vibrancy and panache in both appearance and flavor.
Made from pasteurized cow’s milk, this famous smooth and mild cheddar-type from the southern United Kingdom gains a lovely sweetness and warmth from the Brandy and Port. The free spirited veining makes each bite a different tantalizing experience from just a hint of wine flavor to a more aromatic and stimulating realization.
Obviously the striking creamy white and red marbling made Windsor Red stand out for a Valentine’s Day spread; however, its smooth, firm but pliable texture was perfect for sculpting romance! And it is really very easy to achieve.
You will need, of course, the cheese. It depends how elaborate your vision is as to how much cheese you will need. You will also need a cheese plane, a heart-shaped cookie cutter (or actually Play Doh cutter – many thanks to my 3 year old for lending hers as it was the more perfect size than my cookie cutter.) a small, sharp cheese knife, kitchen scissors, cocktail stirrers (preferably green that come in different sizes – but that is hard to find so, I used some wooden olive spears) and your choice of plates, platters, bowls and vases and any other accessories. Be creative!
First, let the cheese come to room temperature. Measure the cookie cutter(s) you plan to use against the portion of cheese so that you don’t plane into the section you are cutting into “cookies.”
Cookie cutting tips: use the small, sharp knife to evenly cut your block of cheese into smaller layers. If you use a knife that is too big and you are dealing with a large piece of cheese, you may start smushing the cheese as you cut and possibly break it. With a small, thin knife you can very carefully cut even pieces – but be careful to hold the cheese so the knife won’t pull it apart when it gets to the end section of cutting. You may have to carefully cut toward your hand (but hopefully not into it!). Use the cheese plane to even or smooth any surfaces.
For the flowers: plane the surface of the cheese. If your pieces are larger than 1 inch(ish) slivers, use the kitchen scissors to cut the slivers lengthwise into two pieces and then into smaller “petal” pieces. Use the stirrers as stems. Take the small slivers of cheese and wrap one at a time around the top of the stirrer. Gently squeeze the cheese at the bottom, around the stirrer so it molds to it. Stagger the “petals” over each other, so they look like petals of a rose. Continue to squeeze the bottom around the stirrer so they will stay on. They can be small like buds or larger like a rose in full bloom.
If you are using a bowl as a vase (as pictured) take the scraps of the cheese, form a ball, and use it as florist foam so you can poke the stirrers or olive spears into it and your cheese flowers won’t fall out. If you are arranging the cheese flowers in a bud vase or something larger, cut the wooden “stems” in different sizes for a better visual display.
After arranging your stunning cheese display, ENJOY! Have a wonderful, cheesy (in a good way!) Valentine’s Day from Coombe Castle USA.
The beauty of cheese flowers!