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Christmas really will come early with this fabulous Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board. Featuring an assortment of cheese, cured meats, fruits, and nuts, this board has something for everyone and is merry and bright in the most delicious way.
A charcuterie board is always a great option, as it’s festive and customizable to your preferences, so feel free to swap out any ingredients. It also pairs wonderfully with my easy focaccia or onion chips.
Serve this cheese board as an appetizer or snack at your holiday gatherings or parties. It’s easy to make in advance, giving you time to focus on your guests. Enjoy!
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Ingredients
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the complete details!
- Cheeses: A mature cheddar, Emmentaler, and mini mozzarella balls.
- Cured Meat: Spicy salami and thinly sliced chorizo.
- Fruit: Green grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and olives. Make sure the fruit is firm, sweet, and unbruised.
- Olives: I like bright green olives in brine.
- Chocolate: Dark chocolate pairs well with the different flavors and isn’t too sweet, but use any kind you like.
How to Make a Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
- Prepare the ingredients: Wash and dry the fruit, cut out the cheese stars, dice the cheddar and Emmentaler, and fold the salami.
- Arrange the ingredients: Place the cheese stars and chocolate on a large board. Then, fill the space between the two with the remaining ingredients.
- Final touches: Top with the mini mozzarella ball ‘lights’ and the berries.
Tips and Tricks
- Dice the cheese into similar-sized pieces for a balanced look.
- Opt for a large cutting board or a round or rectangular platter.
- If you place the star and trunk first, and make sure these are right opposite each other, you are most likely not to get a crooked tree.
- Use rosemary sprigs to fill in any gaps you might have.
Possible Variations
- Cheese: Use any hard cheeses you like. Comte, Manchego, Parmesan, Gouda, and Gruyère would be good alternatives (to name a few).
- Fruits: Swap for kiwi, pomegranate arils, figs, dragon fruit, pear, apple, and dates. If you want to skip fruit altogether, you can use cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, and peppers, or add crostini or crackers.
- Nuts: Almonds, macadamias, cashews, Brazil nuts, and pistachios are all great choices.
- Chocolate: If you want to keep the board all savory, make the trunk out of crackers or pretzel sticks instead.
Best served with
FAQs
Yes! Arrange the board, cover with clingfilm, and store in the fridge. Take it out 15-20 minutes before serving.
You can definitely cut the cheese star by hand. Simply draw a star on a piece of parchment paper, place the cheese under it, and then trim.
I would skip the surrounding berries in that case to make room for crackers.
Other Festive Boards
Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board
Equipment
Ingredients
- 40 grams chocolate
- 12 pecans
- 15 slices chorizo
- 8 slices salami, spicy
- 200 grams cheddar
- 150 grams Emmentaler
- 15 olives, green
- 20 grapes, green
- 10 mozzarella balls, mini
- 200 grams blueberries
- 6 blackberries
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Slice the block of cheddar in half, and then halve it through the middle to give you two wide pieces of cheese.
- Cut out two cheese stars from the cheese halves using the large cookie cutter.
- Place the cheese stars at the top of your chopping board.
- Dice the remaining cheese into cubes.
- Arrange the chocolate at the base of the board to make the trunk of the tree.
- Cube the Emmentaler cheese.
- In the space between the chocolate and the cheese stars, add the pecans, chorizo, folded salami, cubed cheddar, grapes, olives, and Emmentaler.
- Top with mozzarella balls and rosemary sprigs.
- Place the blueberries and blackberries around the tree.
- Serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
