Cheese boards and charcuterie platters are the perfect party appetizer to impress your friends and family. Cedar planks (or any flavor plank) are a great way to display your beautifully laid out cheeses, cold cuts and other accoutrements. Not only that, but afterwards, they can make a great hostess gift, or can be used to make some planked brie with fruit for dessert.
How to Make a Charcuterie & Cheese Platter on a Cedar Plank
Cheeses
For a classic cheese board, you will want to choose one of each of the following:
- Firm cheese: Manchego, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mimolette
- Medium cheese: Gouda, Gruyere, Emmentaler
- Soft cheese: Brie, Camembert, Herbed Goat Cheese
Charcuterie and Cold Cuts
Choose three different kinds of cold cuts. We especially love salami, prosciutto and mortadella. The more rustic-looking, the better.
Nuts and Fruit
Add two different kinds of nuts, and two kinds of fruits. Some of our favorites include pecans, almonds, walnuts, dried figs and dried apricots. If you’d like, you can also include some fresh fruit like apple slices, grapes, raspberries or pears.
Note: You’ll want to make sure your guests don’t have nut allergies before putting them on the Cedar plank.
Olives
Call us crazy, but olives deserve their own category in our minds. They are the perfect salty companion to cheese and cold cuts, and they’re a must-have in our book. Get a nice mix of black, green and purple olives. For a bonus, you can also plank mixed olives and serve them warm.
Greens
We love including some arugula or spinach for some green pop. It’s also a great topping for crackers with cheese and meat.
Crackers and Bread
Depending on your preference, you can do crackers or bread (or both!). Either way, make sure to have a couple different options that are aesthetically pleasing. Sesame seeds or whole grain crackers look especially nice.
Cedar Plank
You can use any flavor, but we especially love Cedar! If you would like to leave the plank as a hostess gift after the party, you can wrap the plank in plastic wrap, or place some parchment paper on the plank prior to putting the food on there. This will help keep oils and flavors off the plank.
