Creating a big, beautiful cheese board is one of the easiest ways to feed your guests for a light lunch or appetiser this festive season! Here’s our step-by-step guide to creating the most impressive platter.
What You’ll Need:
- A good-sized board or a couple of smaller boards
- Cheese knives
- Small bowls and/or plates
- Cheese (at least 2 – 3 types)
- Crackers and bread
- Accompaniments
Step 1
Grab Everything You Need
Start by selecting an oversized board that’s large enough for all the different elements, or you could spread it across 2-3 smaller boards.
Step 2
Pick 2 – 3 Cheeses
Pick cheeses that vary in taste and texture!
For example:
- Strong – blue cheese
- Creamy – creamy camembert or a triple creme brie are always crowd-pleasers
- Hard or semi-hard – cheddar, gouda, havarti or gruyere
Tips:
- Serve cheeses at room temperature – allowing the flavour, aroma and texture to bloom.
- If you intend on passing the cheese platter around, rather than have it sitting on a table, it’s a nice idea to pre-cut a few slices for ease for your guests. *Pre-cut the cheese when fresh out of the fridge and cold.
Step 3
Choose Your Crackers and/or Bread
It’s always good to provide a few options, think light wafer crackers, oat crackers or a seedy cracker like our homemade seed crackers, perfect for adding texture and crunch (as well as providing a delicious gluten-free option) and some fresh bread.
We like to avoid flavoured crackers as they can overpower the delicate flavours of the cheese.
Step 4
Get Creative With Some Tasty Accompaniments
They add a variety of colours, tastes, textures and dimensions to the board. Think dips, cured meats, pickled or marinated vegetables, something fresh and something sweet.
Dips
Add 1 – 2 dips into bowls which are varying sizes. The bowls will add dimension and height to the board. Pick dips which are vibrantly coloured – like our sun dried tomato and feta dip or basil pesto.
Cured Meats
Adds protein and robust flavours – think prosciutto, salami or smoked salmon.
Pickled Or Marinated Vegetables
Olives, pickled vegetables or our marinated vegetables help to balance out the richness of the cheese with their acidity.
Sweetness
A hint of sweetness on the board to provide that classic sweet and savoury combo – think dried fruit, a drizzle of honey or some quince paste.
Freshness
Cheese boards can be rich and heavy so it’s always good to provide something fresh as a palate cleanser, this could be as simple as some carrot sticks or a bunch of grapes.
Step 5
Time to Assemble!
We find it best to start by platting the largest elements first followed by the smallest – nestling in the smaller elements to fill in any gaps.
