What Is A Charcuterie Board And How Do You Make Them?
Did you ever wonder what a Charcuterie Board is? During my last holiday party, I used a Charcuterie board for my dessert presentation. Learn what a charcuterie board is and how to design your own.
This year, I knew I would be having a large group coming to my open house and wanted to put together an all-encompassing charcuterie board just for desserts. It’s perfect for a large gathering and a lovely presentation as well.
But first, what is a Charcuterie Board?
The word Charcuterie originated in France, and it translates to "pork-butcher shop." While the original French translation refers to pork, modern charcuterie boards can include other types of food, such as duck, goose, chicken, cheese and crackers, toast, fruit, desserts or other options.
Today, a charcutierie board is especially popular in farm to table restaurants where traditional foods are served. It allows for people to gather at a table and eat from a large serving platter filled with delicious food. I love that you can design a charcutierie board with elegant touches, but it still maintains an informal feel to it. I absolutely love entertaining with sophisticated elegance while emitting a warm inviting feel.
A Charcutierie board can be both rustic and beautiful at the same time. It can feed a large or small group and allows for you to get really creative while constructing it. It can be understated, sophisticated and memorable in design.
““You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made,’ [Chef Bugnard] said. ‘Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always.”
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Antique French Bread Board
My husband bought this antique French bread board for me a few months ago and I was so excited to use it for my next gathering. It’s really very large and I knew instantly that I wanted to create a charcuterie board using this board for my open house. It was perfect for a large gathering!
Here is an example of a cheese charcuterie tray I created on the same day. It held savory foods like cheese and meats as well as fruits and crackers.
Tip: You can use any type of serving tray or board for a charcuterie presentation as long as it’s big enough to hold what you want to serve. I have a round vintage wine barrel lid that I often use that I adore. I also will use other serving trays such a this one; a round walnut tray. It is totally up to you. Let your imagination be your guide!
Let’s look at how to design a charcuterie board
I was having both children and adults at my party and wanted to be sure that I designed a charcuterie board that contained all desserts that would appeal to everyone.
How I assembled the board
First, I chose the things that I wanted to put on the board such as Christmas cookies, candy canes, chocolate covered pretzels, spiced gumdrops, marshmallow sticks for hot chocolate and a whole host of other goodies.
I used muffin paper to hold candy and nuts and chose to place all the other items on the board with the desserts as I went down the board.
If your serveboard is large enough you can decorate it with votives, napkins and flowers as I have done here.
Next, because my bread board is so large, I chose to put a festive 6” cake on the other end of the board. This cake and many of the holiday cookies were created by Taste By Spellbound located here in Avon, Connecticut. They made a wonderful three-layer chocolate cake with raspberry filling. The cake was decorated as a yule log therefore, it was perfect when adding it with all the other holiday goodies. It paired nicely with the holiday look and feel of my design.
Muffin paper liners can be so decorative. If you have seasonal ones or just gold /silver and fill them with candy and other sweet treats it makes for a lovely presentation. Here, I had plain white ones available and they still worked out fine.
After placing all the desserts on my charcuterie board, I then looked at all the open spaces on the serve board. I added some additional decorations to fill in the empty spaces with festive holiday items like tiny vases with winterberries, red and gold votives and Santa napkins.
Note: Be very careful which flowers you use for decorations. Many can be poisonous to humans. I found a fabulous fake flower company on line and ordered these berries. I used artificial berries for this presentation. If in doubt, don’t use them.
I also placed some cookies in cellophane wrappers. These cookies were packaged so that when it was time to go home, the children could bring a little treat with them to remember their evening. It was a hit!
Hint: Next to the charcuterie board, add a stack of plates with forks and napkins (if you don’t have them on your board already). This allows guests to take what they want at their own convenience. This frees you up to enjoy your party just that much more and make for a more free flowing party.
This is a smaller charcuterie board I made to show that you can also use a round serveboard and create a lovely presentation using the same cookies and other goodies.
Tip: If you don’t want to place food directly on your serve board, there are decorative parchment paper supplies that are sold in different shapes that can add to your decoration. You can also use lovely holiday napkins.
Below, I used parchment paper that resembled poinsettia flowers. It both protected my board, filled space and created a festive look and feel. I put my chocolate on top of the paper just in case it melted. I will also do that when creating a cheese and fruit board. I have found that cheese such a brie can have a heavy oil content when heated and can go into the wood. This really helps to preserve the wood from any staining.
I hope this has been helpful for you when designing your own Charcuterie board. I can’t tell you just how fun the children…and adults had with this board. The desserts were all located in one area, they were able to serve themselves and it was festive to look at. Putting one together really has no specific rule. It really depends on your own creativity and IMAGINATION. Have fun with it and give it a try. When you are hosting a party, it is perfect for so many foods. It’s totally up to you on how you want to design it.
Design with your heart™️
“may your home be a place where friends meet, family gathers, and love grows.”
As with everything I post on my blogs, please feel free to comment or if you have any questions, please email me through my contact page. I welcome it anytime!
Happy entertaining my friends!
Mary
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