* 1st and 2nd image courtesy of Le Petite Studio

According to our baker, Linda LaBarge, great wedding cakes are more than delicious flavors. It’s about injecting the style and personality of each couple into the cake design. Wedding cakes may be elegant and classic or whimsical, with personal touches or motifs—anyway you slice it, a wedding cake should convey something special.  

Sometimes the design relates to the wedding party theme or décor, sometimes it speaks more about the personality of the couple and sometimes brides have other ideas which we incorporate into the design. For a recent cake creation, the bride requested that the cake (chocolate fudge layered with dark chocolate shavings and Graham cookie bites with marshmallow buttercream!) be a reflection of her wedding dress. Linda designed a cake full of cascading ruffles, bringing a softness and expression of tactile elegance.

Baking and designing cakes has changed dramatically over the years Pepper’s has been in business. The level of design, complexity and materials available are staggering.  Today, cake is an artistic event and bridal couples have increasingly challenging requests and interests. 

“Each year as I look at the web, cake magazines, TV shows and wedding and dress style information, I find a new technique to explore or teach myself,” says Linda. “One year it was the use of color and color application, the next molding figures with rice krispie treats, and this year the use of fondant in a textural direction.  I have many interests and I try to extract from those applications for cake design.”

Linda recommends that brides come in with some designs of interest to jump-start the conversation. “Each couple has a different approach to their cake and I try to listen to discover and work with that interest.”  Together, they sketch out the final look which incorporates both the creative energy of the bride and groom and Linda herself, resulting in a breathtaking creation that tastes as stunning as it looks!

At Pepper’s, I have seen a lot of creative and interesting ideas come to fruition. Everyday I experience the excitement from our party event planners as they create memorable, delicious celebrations for our clients. We are a group of people on a continuous quest to bring unique and thoughtful ideas to weddings, family parties or galas using our vast experience and diverse, creative personalities.

I have so many memorable experiences of all the great events we’ve been part of through the years, and it’s made me wish I had chosen to capture the excitement of it all in a more personal way, such as with a journal, for instance. There is a bond, a friendship, that is created as we guide and explore how to make a celebration come together. And though the memories of each bond are still strong, I can’t help but feel sad that I didn’t choose to document it more concretely—to have something physical that I could look back to and remember.

Pepper’s Fine Catering is now entering its 25th year, and I truly feel we just keep getting better. To that I say thank you across the board to both our clients and our team.

A group of us sat around having lunch last week reminiscing over some of the wonderful memories, delicious meals, and unexpected challenges, and we thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to hear from our clients?” Their stories, their memories of having a Pepper’s catered event. 

So if you have a moment to share your story, I speak for both myself and the entire Pepper’s staff in saying that we would love to hear it. My hope is that your stories will become the journal I wish I had started long ago.

Susan

Wedding Cake Design Consultation

When Pepper's Creative Consultant, Melissa Brunis, first met with Jennifer Elliot and Don Beaton, their two great danes came up in conversation. They explained how Mina, the female, was angel-like and well behaved, but Chancer, the male, was a real trouble maker… always getting into something he shouldn’t. Melissa presented a picture of a cake that Peppers had previously done for a groom's cake of three beagles eating a cake, and they loved it!

Jennifer and Don decided they wanted to do something similar for their wedding cake. Jennifer envisioned a traditional two tiered white cake with Mina sitting primly on top. Chancer, on the other hand would have gotten into trouble…running circles around the cake and chomping into it leaving crumbs in his wake and smearing frosting on his face!

Wedding Cake Design and Construction

To begin the design process of making the dogs, Pepper's head baker, Linda LaBarge, met with Jennifer and Don to capture their unique and personal vision.

Then Linda began construction with the dogs' internal structure - Floral wire and popsicle sticks begin to provide support, movement and personality.

Next, rice crispy treat material was modeled around the internal structure with attention to every detail like facial structure, muscle tone and any other characteristics that we want to stand out. The dogs were then painted with Royal Icing, allowed to dry and then sanded smooth, making sure all components fit.
    Next Linda covered the dogs with fondant, brushed the figures with water and added additional pieces, such as ears, eyes and tail.
         The figures with were finished with a painting of food dye, paying close attention to shading and the little details, whiskers, eyes and noses.

The final photo shows the finished cake after Chancer "got to it". Not shown in the photo is Mina, the other (well-behaved) dog, who couldn't be placed on top of the cake until after transportation to the reception hall.

"One of the star attractions was our wedding cake which was the subject of a lot of laughter and many photos with our niece Ava busily explaining that Chancer one of our two dogs (Chancer and Mina) had already helped himself.

 We would like to add our thanks and appreciation to the staff at Peppers who helped make this an exceptional day."

-Jennifer and Don Beaton

Thanks Linda for making this day fun, personal, delicious and definitely memorable!

Over the past twelve years, Pepper's Fine Foods has been volunteering to cater the Gala Military Ball fundraiser to benefit Veterans Inc. in Worcester, MA.

This year's event was held on Saturday night, Nov. 13, 2010 in the Massachusetts National Guard Military Museum & Archives on Salisbury Street, and was the most successful one yet! The whole evening is dedicated to giving back to our vets with 100% of the proceeds goes right to Veteran's Inc.

Peppers served 350 people delicious entrees such as Braised Boneless Short Ribs with Roasted Shallot Bourdelaise Sauce or Herb Crusted Free Bird Statler Chicken Breast with Tarragon Dijon Veloute. Donations were collected from vendors, and all their chefs and wait staff, including ROTC students from Montachusett Regional Technical School volunteered their time for the evening. Pepper's would like to sincerely thank everyone who helped out in making this endeavor such a success!

Veterans Inc., on  69 Grove Street, is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to serving veterans and their families with support services including housing, hot meals program, food bank and employment training. Each year, there are more and more veterans, and decreasing funds get spread thinner and thinner, making it difficult to keep this good thing going.

If you'd like learn more about how you can help, visit Veterans Inc's Make a Donation page.