Description
Create a festive Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board perfect for beginners, featuring layers of gouda cheese, salami, fresh fruits, nuts, and garnishes arranged beautifully into a tree shape to impress your guests.
Ingredients
Scale
Cheeses and Meats
- 6 to 8 ounces semi-hard cheeses like gouda, cheddar, and havarti
- 3 ounces salami
Fruits and Vegetables
- 10 to 15 red grapes
- 2 to 3 mini cucumbers (sliced into rounds)
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries
- handful of olives for adding to tree when built
Nuts and Sweets
- 1/2 cup marcona almonds
- 1/4 cup candied ginger
- honey for serving
Other
- crackers (amount as needed to fill the tree shape)
- 4 to 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Prepare the board: Select a cheese board large enough to create a tree shape, ideally around 18 inches in diameter like a wooden board with metal rim.
- Create tree outline: Use a roll of string to form an even triangle on the board, taping each corner securely to keep it in place.
- Layer crackers: Start with one layer of crackers forming the first row at the bottom of the triangle as the base of the tree.
- Add cheese and grapes: Arrange sticks of cheese on top of the crackers followed by a row of red grapes.
- Layer cucumbers: Place two rows of sliced mini cucumbers above the grapes for a fresh, green layer.
- Add almonds: Scatter and lightly mound marcona almonds on the next layer to add crunch.
- Place raspberries: Add two rows of fresh raspberries on top of the almonds for bright color.
- Add cubed cheese: Place a generous amount of cubed cheese above the raspberries for richness.
- Fold salami: Fold slices of salami neatly and layer them on top of the cheese cubes.
- Fill with crackers: Add another layer of crackers above salami to help fill out the tree shape.
- Top with star cheese: Cut cheese into star or snowflake shapes and place them at the peak of the tree.
- Garnish the board: Scatter candied ginger pieces around for sparkle and wedge sprigs of fresh rosemary between rows to mimic tree branches.
- Add olives: Tuck a few olives among the layers to represent ornaments on the tree.
- Remove string: Carefully peel off the taped string to reveal the perfect tree shape.
- Serve: Present with honey on the side for drizzling or dipping.
Notes
- Use string and tape to easily create a perfect triangle to guide your layers and keep the shape.
- Semi-hard cheeses like gouda, cheddar, and havarti hold shape well and are easy to cube or cut into shapes.
- Fresh rosemary sprigs add a lovely pine aroma and visual texture mimicking a real Christmas tree.
- Candied ginger adds a festive sparkle and sweet-spicy contrast to the savory elements.
- Adjust the quantity of crackers and other ingredients based on your board size and number of guests.
- Substitute fruits or nuts according to preference or seasonal availability for variation.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approximate)
- Calories: 250 kcal
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 350 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 7 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 8 g
- Cholesterol: 25 mg
