The holidays are a time for family, friends, and lots of delicious food! If you’re looking for an impressive and easy-to-make treat for your holiday gatherings, try a Christmas Charcuterie Wreath. In this blog post, we’ll walk you through how to assemble this festive and delicious board, plus some tips and tricks to make it the star of your holiday party. So, let’s get started!
Photographs in this post are posted with permission and are courtesy of the creations made by Foodie Crush, Simply Scratch, Brie My Board, Crumb and Cow, Berry and the Boards.
Tips for a Visually Appealing & Delicious Charcuterie Board
Creating the perfect charcuterie board involves more than just assembling the ingredients – there are a few tips and tricks that can help you take your board to the next level.
A great charcuterie board incorporates a variety of flavours, colours, textures, and details. With flavour, try to incorporate sweet, salty, spicy, and savoury. Use sweets like honey, dried fruits or jams to balance out the savoury cheeses and the salty meats.
Include a mixture of soft cheeses, hard crackers, sticky spreads, and smooth pitted olives to add a variety of texture. To give your board more dimensionality, cheese straws are a great choice. For height, place them upright in a 250 ml or 500 ml wide-mouth canning jar and fan them out.
Choosing colourful elements will add visual interest to your board and entice your guests. Select items that are bright and vibrant such as roasted red peppers, cut-open clementine, berries and colourful dried fruits like cranberries or figs.
Lastly, focus on details like springs of herbs, edible flowers, pomegranate seeds or other decorative items.
Now that you have the basics, it’s time to start creating your wreath charcuterie!
How to Create a Christmas Charcuterie Wreath
1. Choose Your Board
You don’t need a circular board to make a charcuterie wreath – we’ve seen them made on square or rectangular boards too. Ultimately, the placement of the meats, cheeses, fruits and fillers are what defines the visual appearance of the wreath.
You can always use crackers and bread to fill in any negative space on your board (such as when using a rectangular board).
Be sure to use a food-safe surface such as a plate, cutting board, or serving platter. These could be made of wood, ceramic, glass or marble. Marble holds a cooler temperature for the cheese, while wood is nice for travelling with if you are worried about breaking your favourite plate.
2. Arrange Larger Elements First: Meats, Cheeses & Spreads
Meats and cheeses are the main part of any charcuterie board. They create the basic structure of your charcuterie wreath, so you’ll want to arrange them first. Include a good variety that you think your guests will enjoy.
Consider having at least one cheese from each of the following categories:
Firm Cheese — Sharp cheddar, or other aged cheeses
Soft Cheese — Brie, goat cheese or Camembert
Blue Cheese — Thornloe Casey Blue Cheese is a nice option
Dry sausages are a delicious and versatile addition to any charcuterie board. With a variety of flavours and textures, they’re perfect for pairing with other foods – from sweet to spicy to savory.
Prosciutto adds a subtle but sweet flavour while soppressata adds some heat. Salami is nice for Italian or garlicky flavours.
Learn how to make salami roses for your charcuterie board on this blog post.
Spreads look best when spooned into small dishes instead of serving them directly from the jars. Jams, honey and mustards can help add a bit of sweetness or tanginess to your board.
Don’t restrict yourself to a typical charcuterie spread. Be creative and try something new, like an antipasto Christmas Charcuterie Wreath like this one by Foodie Crush.
3. Red & Green Fruits
Next, add some fruits for a splash of colour and texture to your charcuterie wreath. Looking for a classic red and green look? Here are some options:
Red Fruits
- cherry tomatoes
- red berries (strawberries, raspberries, cranberries)
- pomegranate
- red grapes
- apple slices
- dried meats
Green Fruits
- green grapes
- kiwi
- green apples
- olives
4. Decorate to Fill In The Gaps
Time to let your creativity shine! Fill your wreath with fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme or sage. Fill in any gaps with nuts, dried fruits, and olives. Create a polished look by keeping like items together instead of separated across the board.
5. Crackers & Bread
Don’t forget the crackers! Crackers can be a part of your wreath or served on the side. Choose a variety of crackers to offer different textures and flavours.
Bread is also great for adding some visual interest and filling any gaps on your board. Try slices of baguette, crostini or flatbreads.
Here’s a tip to keeping your charcuterie board presentation top-notch: leave the crackers and bread off until you’re ready to serve. This will prevent them from going soggy and keep your wreath looking its best.
6. Serve & Enjoy!
Once you’ve assembled the board, it’s time to serve it up! If you’re serving the board right away, you can simply leave it out on the counter or table. However, if you’re making the board in advance, you’ll want to store it in the refrigerator. Be sure to pull it out before guests arrive to take the chill off of it – cheese is most flavourful at room temperature.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy your beautiful Christmas charcuterie wreath friends and family!
Final Thoughts
There’s no need to be stressed about holiday entertaining this year! Just break out the cutting board and create a beautiful charcuterie wreath that will have all your guests talking. It’s easy, festive, and delicious – what more could you ask for?
Happy holidays friends!
