or scroll for tips (and a little nostalgia).
Celebrate the festive season with this Christmas Charcuterie Board.
It’s perfect as an appetiser or a light meal to share with your nearest and dearest.
What is a Charcuterie Board?
Charcuterie, strictly speaking, refers to the the preparation of meat products like ham, salami and pates.
These days, though, when you hear the word “charcuterie” we’re generally talking about arranging and serving not just these meats, but also their wonderful accompaniments: cheese, olives, crackers, breads, nuts, dips and other popular finger foods.
It’s easy to see why they’re popular. A Charcuterie Board looks amazing and you can design it to suit your own tastes.
Ours is a little heavier on the accompaniments than the meats.
How to make a Christmas Charcuterie Board
The thing that makes a Charcuterie Board amazing starts with the colour.
Make sure you select items with contrasting colours. The fresh and dried fruits and herbs help to make this Christmas Charcuterie Board look as good as it tastes.
For a Christmas-themed board, go with a festive shape. We’ve used a Christmas Tree design here, but you could also arrange the items in a wreath shape.
To make this particular board, we’ve used a star shape cutter for the cream cheese star at the top of the tree.
We also tied the pretzel “tree trunk” together with chives by placing the pretzels upright in a small measuring cup.
My final tips for creating a Christmas Charcuterie Board your guests will love are:
- use fresh, quality ingredients
- add a delicious homemade appetiser (here, we’ve added our pumpkin croquettes but parsley fritters would also work well)
- keep a “theme” in mind like a tree or wreath
- get creative, use your imagination and have fun!
Christmas Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- star shape cutter
- serving board or tray
Ingredients
- 1 Apricot and Almond Cream Cheese round
- 150 grams thick sliced ham (or another deli meat)
- 1/2 cup olives
- 1/2 cup small squares of cheddar cheese
- 4 pumpkin croquettes (or another finger food)
- 1 packet water crackers
- handful pretzel sticks
- 1/3 cup dried figs (or another dried fruit)
- 1/2 cup mixed salted nuts
- 1 stick celery, cut into small sticks
- handful fresh herbs, including chives, rosemary and mint
- 6 raspberries (or strawberries or other small fresh fruit pieces)
Instructions
- Cut a star shape from the cream cheese and use at the top of the board for the star on the tree shape.
- Cut the pretzel sticks in half and tie with a piece of herb. Place at the bottom of the board for the tree's trunk.
- Use remaining ingredients to create a tree shape, using the picture in the post as a guide.
- Enjoy!