Description
This festive Christmas Charcuterie Board is a delightful and visually stunning spread perfect for holiday gatherings. Featuring a whimsical reindeer face made of whipped cream tinted with dark chocolate, decorated with marshmallows, jelly candies, and breadsticks as antlers, surrounded by fresh fruits, nuts, crackers, and sweet treats, it offers a balanced mix of savory and sweet bites that will impress guests and bring holiday cheer.
Ingredients
Scale
Nuts and Seeds
- 1 cup Almonds
- 1 cup Hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup Coconut flakes
Fresh Fruits
- 1/2 cup Grapes
- 1 cup Blueberries
- 2-3 Kiwis, sliced
- 1-2 Oranges, sliced
Dairy and Chocolate
- 1 cup Whipping Cream
- 2 tablespoons Dark chocolate
Sweet Treats and Snacks
- 6 Breadsticks
- 1 cup Crackers
- 1/3 cup Jelly candies (raspberry and green gummy candies)
- 1/3 cup Marshmallows
Instructions
- Whip the Cream: Start by whipping the cream to stiff peaks. Once stiff, divide the whipped cream into two equal portions. To one half, add 1/2 tablespoon of melted dark chocolate and mix to achieve a light brown cream. To the other half, add the remaining melted dark chocolate to make a darker brown cream. This sets the base for the reindeer face. Transfer the creams into a pastry bag for piping.
- Create Reindeer Facial Features: Using the whipped cream from the pastry bag, pipe the light and dark brown cream to form the face of a reindeer on your serving board. Decorate the eyes with marshmallows and use small drops of dark chocolate as pupils. Use chocolate drops to line the mouth and place a jelly raspberry to represent the nose.
- Construct the Antlers: Arrange the breadsticks as antlers extending from the reindeer face. Add blueberries on top of the breadsticks, followed by green gummy candies and gummy raspberries to add festive colors and texture.
- Add Fresh Fruit Garnishes: Arrange the sliced kiwis alongside the reindeer face. Place grapes and orange slices in the corners of the board for a fresh and colorful presentation.
- Decorate with Crackers and Coconut: Scatter crackers across the board, and sprinkle coconut flakes on top to add additional texture and flavor contrast.
- Finishing Touches with Nuts and Marshmallows: Finally, add hazelnuts and almonds around the edges as well as additional crackers and marshmallows to fill any gaps and complete the festive look of the charcuterie board.
Notes
- Use a chilled bowl and whisk when whipping cream for better volume.
- You can substitute the jelly candies with any other gummy candies to suit tastes.
- Feel free to add additional seasonal fruits or nuts for variety.
- Prepare the reindeer facial features just before serving to maintain the whipped cream’s shape.
- Use dark chocolate drops sparingly to avoid bitterness.
