I do love weddings - and helping with them. Everyone is usually so happy and excited. I was lucky enough to help with a good friend's wedding a week or so ago - I did the flowers, which always includes harvesting from friends yards, (I'm usually asked to do a bit of pruning while I'm picking...but I am a harvester, not a pruner!) and I made the wedding cakes...three of them. I've known the groom since he was 7 years old...so when he and his bride-to-be asked me to make their cakes, I could hardly refuse. They actually came over to my house, walked up my driveway, and I couldn't make out their faces so I thought Jehovah's Witnesses were coming for a visit and I almost didn't answer the door...not that there's anything wrong with Jehovah's Witnesses...but on that particular day I was not in the mood to be saved. The young couple, so darling and sweet, explained they wanted three normal cakes - as their "wedding cake" and I thought, how hard can that be?!?
Making cakes is not a big deal...making cakes for a wedding reception IS a big dea!! It was a lot of pressure - I kept thinking if the cakes aren't perfect then any bad thing that happens in their marriage will be blamed on me and my crappy cakes! But they turned out great - whew! The Bride and Groom asked me to make their favorite cakes for them - so I made a Coconut Cake With Lemon Curd Filling and Coconut Buttercream Frosting and a Sweet Potato Spice Cake with Orange Filling and White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and the third cake was German Chocolate Cake with Coconut Pecan Frosting...to die for! (That recipe will be up soon, it's one you'll want to put in your file because it's a rich, dark chocolate cake that is super moist with a dense crumb - perfect for the chocoholic that dwells within!) When I was done with the flowers and cakes that day, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a fetal position with a plate of these Pretzel Bars...they'll cure what ails you, too.
These bars have a shortbread crust - buttery and sweet - and with the saltiness and crunch of the pretzels, well, you have the best of both worlds: Sweet AND Salty. And they are better the next day.
Pretzel Bars - Adapted (slightly) From Martha Stewart Living, October 2011
3 1/4 cups salted miniature twist pretzels
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat a 10 x 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment.
In a food processor, pulse 1 3/4 cups pretzels until powdery. Transfer 1/2 cup to a bowl; discard any remaining pretzel powder. Stir in flour and baking powder. Transfer remaining 1 1/2 cups pretzels to food processor, and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and beat in egg yolk, then pretzel-flour mixture, until combined. Mix in 1/2 cup chopped pretzels. Press dough evenly into pan. Top dough with 1/4 cup chopped pretzels, pressing slightly, discard any remaining pretzels.
Bake shortbread until pale brown and firm in the center, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let shortread cool for 1 hour. Remove shortbread from pan, and cut into 1 1/2-inch square pieces using a serrated knife.
Just a few more pics of the wedding...the Bride wanted a rustic/shabby-chic reception - and sawed-off tree-stumps made perfect cake stands! I used a Dremel tool to carve the messages into each stump:
White tents covered the back yard - twinkling lights, beautiful flowers, pretty tables and fabulous food made this reception one to remember. Unfortunately I left my camera at home, so I didn't get any shots of just how beautiful it all was - but I can tell you the Bride and Groom could not have been happier. That's always a good sign.
The flowers turned out beautifully - "Coffee-break" roses provided the perfect touch with the fall foliage. Promise me you'll try these Pretzel Bars - they are dang good - sweet and salty and perfect for an Autumn afternoon!