Charcuterie Bouquet
Move over, charcuterie board. This simple tutorial teaches you how to make a charcuterie bouquet. It's an easy appetizer idea for nearly any occasion.
In this edible bouquet format, the charcuterie board is presented in a manner that is perfect for birthdays, Valentine's Day, engagement parties, Mother's Day, and wedding anniversaries. Start with our basic format and swap out the ingredients as you'd like.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup grapes
- 1 tangerine
- 3 oz. salami
- 2 ounces semi-hard cheese
- 3 large cracker sticks or breadsticks.
- 2 1/2 ounces of lavender cheese
- 3 Mini Babybel
- 6 lettuce leaves
- 3 cherry tomatoes
Instructions
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Start with the salami skewers. For the roses, cut the thin slices into two pieces. Place the halves overlapping and roll into a tight roll. Press together with your fingers.
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Thread a small portion of the salad leaf, and the salami rose onto a skewer. For the fancy flower, fold the salami circles in half and then in half again. Connect the two pieces with the open slices and tip them onto a skewer. Make three rows of such connections and poke a dark grape berry.
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To prevent the edges of the cheese rosettes from cracking, the semi-hard cheese should be at room temperature. Take it out of the fridge one hour before using. Cut small sections from the circle. Roll one into a tube - this is the center of the rose. Add other “petals” around it. The more petals, the lusher the rose. Secure the cheese rose with a skewer.
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Place the Mini Babybel cheese on the board. With a small stamp or a tiny cookie cutter, stamp a heart on the wax and remove the wax by gently prying it with a knife. Slice the lavender cheese into 1/3-inch thick slices and use a cookie cutter to form the hearts. Secure the Mini Babybel and lavender cheese to the skewers.
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Peel the tangerine and cut it into slices. Thread the tangerine slices and grapes alternately onto the skewers. Place the tomatoes on the skewer.
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Fill a round board with a handle with the leaf lettuce. Arrange the skewers and stick crackers on the board in mirror rays so that you fill the entire board. If the bottom tips of the skewers extend beyond the edge of the board, cut them off with kitchen shears.
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Decorate the bouquet with salad leaves and wrap it with food paper to create the illusion of a wrapped bouquet. Tie a ribbon in the tone of the paper or a contrasting ribbon. Your edible bouquet is ready for serving.
Recipe Notes
You will need to have a variety of cheeses for the board. Choose cheeses of different tastes, colors, and ages. We used purple, aged lavender cheese to add unique interest to the board both visually and in flavor. In addition, we used Mini Babybel cheese in red wax and semi-hard slices of round white cheese.
Regarding crackers, breadsticks and crackers in stick form work best in the bouquet. These shapes stand up better than those in more traditional shapes. We formed flowers out of salami, but you can replace some or all of that with prosciutto or pepperoni.
Finally, we added small fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, tangerines, and grapes. Round it out with some greenery like lettuce or arugula.