5 tips for making the perfect cheese platter

Planning a dinner menu or what to serve to your guests be it for the holidays, a movie night or just an evening with friends can be stressful. What’s one easy way to alleviate that stress, opting for a cheese platter. Not only is it simple and quick to put together, it’s also easy to prepare to everyone’s liking. Here are our tips to making the most out of this appetizer.

1. Choose cheeses with care

Let’s face it, a cheese platter is nothing without the cheeses. When selecting them, it’s good to think about versatility. Ideally, you’d have a variety of flavors and textures on the platter such as aged, soft, firm, or blue cheeses. It’s also a good idea to think about your guests and choose at least one cheese that’s familiar to everyone. If you like, you can also let the season guide your cheese selection. Light fresh cheeses and white mould cheeses for the summer, strong blue cheeses and firm alpine cheeses for the winter.

2. Take the cheeses out at the right time

Take the cheeses out to room temperature approximately 30 minutes before serving. When warm, the texture of the cheese softens, and the aromas come out better.

3. Add a selection of sweet and savory snacks

Part of the fun when enjoying a cheese platter is trying out different flavor pairs. Offer different kinds of snacks alongside the cheeses such as crackers, bread slices, cured meats, jams, marmalades, nuts, seasonal fruits, berries etc. One of our favorite flavor pairs is blue cheese and gingerbread cookies!

4. Assemble with ease

Once you have all your tasty cheeses and snacks available, it’s time to assemble the platter. Start with the board, this can be anything from a wooden tray to a cutting board, a plate or even a baking sheet. Then put down the biggest things on the board first such as the chunks or wedges of cheese and slices of bread. After that you can just start filling the gaps with all the other snacks in any order that pleases your eye. Finally, you can finish off the platter with some garnishes such as edible flowers or herbs for a nice look and feel.

5. Don’t forget the drinks!

Complete your cheese platter with some drinks such as a glass of bubbly or sparkling glögg/glühwein or perhaps aquavit which goes wonderfully with aged cheeses.