If it's a wedding reception venue with unique charm and atmosphere you are after - a barn might be just the thing - the old oak beams and Cotswold stone give a rustic feel, and when you have all your friends and family around you, you feel very cosy.
The
Barn at Springhill Farm between Evesham and Pershore in Worcestershire has been re-furbished just this year - and I couldn't believe the transformation when I saw it again a few weeks ago. Light, airy and vast it makes for a wonderful venue with excellent facilities.
The wedding blessing ceremony was held by
the lake, and champagne and dry snacks served on the terrace outside the main house afterwards by the
party angels while we set up for the wedding breakfast for 100 guests behind the scenes in the barn. After so many marquee weddings, it was so nice to have a solid floor, walls (no wind blowing through the place), a catering size sink with running water and lots of space to cook in.
Dry snacks
The economic alternative to canapés. Here they are (below right) a couple of days before just after baking.
- 3 types of palmiers - Anchovy, sun dried tomato and black olive
- Gruyere allumettes
- Roasted almonds and cashews
- To see more on how they are made click here
Starter
As the wedding couple wanted to keep the menu very simple to please all their guests they had requested pâté as a starter. I made a
smoked trout pâté rolled in cold smoked trout for a starter with trout from the local
Donnington trout farm. This was served with marinated cucumber and dill, salad and the melba toast we had made on the preceding Wednesday night.
Then for Grandma who could only eat pureed food I made the above right version - with milk soaked bread, cucumber jelly (cucumber juice set with agar-agar in canapé size muffin tins) and the trout pate without the cold smoked trout around the edge.
For the vegetarian guests they had chosen red lentil pâté. I added a few breadcrumbs to
the recipe too so it set a little firmer then wrapped it in leeks. This was really a revelation - it tasted so good with all the spices and lemon - like an enhanced hoummous. I left out the nuts as there were a few guests with nut allergies, but added some olive oil which lightened it too.
Main course
As is so often the case, there was a lot of work involved in getting the main course out quickly and hot, so it was only after we had served it we remembered we should have take a photo. If you have been to a music festival recently you may have come accross
Pieminister pies. The wedding couple are Pieminister fans and that was what they had requested for their main course - Matador (beef and chorizo) & mushroom and asparagus for the vegetarian guests. As it is the wedding couples special day I always like to prepare whatever they want - so that is exactly what we did, and plated them with new
potatoes in chives, Chantenay carrots and french beans in red onion butter. There were sole goujons and homemade chips for the children which looked like the one
seen here last year (scroll to Monday or Thursday).
For Grandma who could only eat pureed food, I had pureed one pie filling and topped it with mashed potato and served it with carrot puree. Very delicious. Really!
Dessert 
They had enjoyed the raspberry sorbet so much when I delivered
their bistro meal a few months before they had asked to add that as part of their raspberry trio dessert.
- Dark chocolate and raspberry tart
- Shotglass of raspberry and marscapone trifle
- Raspberry sorbet
A little raspberry coulis is dotted in between.
Of everything we did this proved the most challenging. Luckily the equipment hire company we use (chairs, crockery, glasses, cutlery, oven etc) is just down the road from us so they picked up my 6 ft upright freezer and took that to the venue along with all their equipment. That meant we could pre-ball the sorbet using my
ice cream tip, and then place it in the tuile baskets (stops it melting accross the plate) just as they were being taken by the waiting staff.
I made the tart cases (above left) for the chocolate tart in muffin tins on the preceding Tuesday evening while my dad made the tuile cases (above right), shortly before we cut all the new potatoes. The chocolate tarts were baked on Friday, then flashed in the oven after the main course had gone and then topped with the raspberries. The shotglassess were made in 2 stages - the base just after the starter had gone, and the top after the main course had gone - fresh is best!
Benson of Broadway wedding catering
Related posts:
Some previous weddings we have cooked for
Edit 10/06/09
There are more photos from the wedding couple including the main course and dessert here:
http://bit.ly/2ZiL82
Roast saddle of lamb with caper and mint red wine sauce
....is rolled, as described for 
These ballotines are then left to rest in the fridge, so they stay together when you cut them. I garnish them on top (as shown above) with a little crème fraîche and caviar.
For this I ask the 
