The Big Four-Oh

For my husband's fortieth birthday, we wanted to do a wine theme, as we as a couple are known for drinking red wine and our knowledge thereof. The aim of the party was to share our love and experience of wine with our guests, but of course they could bring beverages to their own liking as well. On the table we served a selection of red and white wine as well as Brut Champagne and non-alcoholic sparkling wine.

To get the party started, each guest was served a double shot of tequila - of my husband's choice. For snacks I wanted to serve something that go well with wine, and what else than cheese and more cheese. My sister bought my husband a variety of cheeses for his birthday and we decided to share these delicious cheeses with our guests. The cheeses comprised two cream cheese varieties (chilli caramel and sweet chilli with lime), Cheddar with red onion and Blue cheese. I also added plain cream cheese topped with sweet chilli sauce to the table. To accompany the various cheeses, I served a variety of salted crackers with a few fresh elements - dates, white grapes, sugar snap peas and baby corn with a feta and herb dipping sauce.

For mains, my husband really wanted to serve sliders, so he organised and prepared the buns and patties, which were really delicious on it's own. For toppings we decided on three different theme options. I had this idea in my head that each theme will have separate sections on the table, but in the end it all came out intertwined and I think the themes were a bit of a miss in the end. At least it didn't affect the taste of the food!

The first option was Hawaiian (aka Aloha). The toppings were a pineapple and melon salsa, with a medley of peppers and red onion, barbeque sauce, Hawaiian black salt, baby spinach leaves and a choice of coriander or lime olive oil. I decorated this part of the table with a whole coconut and pineapple, and flower leis.

The second option was the spicy or hot option (aka Scorcher). The toppings were pepper sauce, red pepper and Calabrian chilli pesto, caramelised onions, baby spinach leaves, Edam cheese and Jalapeño olive oil. I decorated this part of the table with a fireman role play costume, a small fire truck and red and yellow party pom-poms to represent fire.

The third option was mushrooms (aka fungi in phonetic language). The toppings were whole Portabellini mushrooms fried in a pan with thyme, feta cheese, caramalised onions, fried medley of peppers, baby spinach leaves, cabernet sauvignon balsamic vinegar and a choice of lemon or garlic olive oil. I decorated this part of the table with a planter pot filled with sand and added a spade, topped with a few mushroom stems and whole mushrooms.

Although the different themes were intertwined, the sliders were still a hit and all the toppings were enjoyed thoroughly, even if not used as intended. The nice thing about sliders is that our guests could have more than one burger and enjoy the different topping options.

For dessert, I used the cake pop as inspiration. For this dessert, I sadly, and embarrassingly, have to admit that I used premix cake mix. As the dessert was not about the cake itself and with the limited time I have lately with the three little ones, I thought it best to do a quick an easy cake instead. The base of the dessert was a plain vanilla cake, which I cut into small circles. The top part was a red velvet cake crumbled and mixed with cream cheese icing, then made into small spheres by using a silicon mold and placed in the fridge to set. The two layers were held together with the leftover cream cheese icing. Once the two cakes were combined, I added a small amount of coconut essence on top of each red velvet cake pop sphere and topped with melted white chocolate. Once the chocolate was set, I sprinkled a little bit of red edible glitter on top.

When I melted the white chocolate initially, I added the coconut essence to the chocolate but the chocolate ceased. I guess I should've added coconut oil instead, so I melted another batch of white chocolate, this time not adding anything to it, hence the coconut essence added to the mini cakes.

The mini cakes were served in mini cupcake papers to make it easier to serve and eat. This was a really delicious treat, as the coconut essence added a taste of alcohol. The perfect mini cake to finish the night of with.

​But first, we had to finish all the wine before the night could end...

The Invitation