Cheese Platters can contain just about anything you want. Although traditionally served at the end of a meal, I sometimes serve them as an entree and for large gatherings, they are a perfect addition to finger food!
Hints & Tips
- As a general rule, I generally serve a hard cheese, a soft creamy cheese and a blue cheese on a platter with some fruit, nuts and quince paste. However, not everyone eats blue cheese so it is often omitted and an additional soft cheese is added.
- In terms of fruit, a nice bunch of grapes always works well. However, I also like to use fresh or dried figs, dried cranberries, medjool dates and sometimes cherries! It adds colour and texture to a nice cheese board.
- In terms of nuts, I often add a pile of roasted or plain almonds, honey coated cashews, maple roasted pecans or walnuts. They complement the cheese.
- Quince paste is a must if you are serving hard cheese – it complements it so well!
- I love crackers and biscuits with cheese but I have found that to truly enjoy the cheese, a simple water biscuit works best. I have tried a range of seeded biscuits, salty crackers but often find the biscuit over powers the taste of the cheese. Yo can buy the boxes of “biscuits for cheese”. They are good but again, not all the biscuits will suit the cheeses you serve.
- With a large number of people being lactose intolerant, I often include a goats cheese and a sheeps milk cheese.
- I have listed some of my favourites below. Cheese is a matter of taste. Most delis will allow you to try the cheese before you buy it. You can also include the fruit cheeses if you like, too.
- I have proposed 3 cheeses, using 150g of each cheese. This is a guideline only. Depending on the course and size of the group, you can increase the quantities and range of cheeses on your platter!
- Veg, SF
Hard Cheeses
- King Island Cheddars
- Spanish Manchego (Sheeps Milk)
- Tasty, Vintage Cheddars
- Cablanca Dutch Goat Gouda (Goats Milk)
Soft Cheeses
- Soignon Chevre (Goast Milk)
- Meredith Dairy Marinated Goats Cheese (Goats Milk)
- Camembert
- Double or Triple Cream Brie
- Castello – they do an amazing White Cheese, a Creamy Blue and a Truffle Cheese
- Fromager D’Affinois do an amazing range of soft cheeses that come in Cow, Sheep and Goats equivalent – all are amazing.
Blue Cheeses
- English Stilton
- King Island Roaring Forties Blue
- Castello Creamy Blue
- Roquefort
- Category: Desserts, Entree, Sugar Free, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 150 grams Hard Cheese
- 150 grams Soft Cheese
- 150 grams Blue Cheese
- 50 grams Quince Paste
- Fruit of Your Choice
- Nuts of Your Choice
- 1-2 Packets Water Biscuits
Instructions
- Using a cheese board or a platter, arrange the cheeses, leaving lots of room between each cheese.
- If using grapes, place in the centre of the cheese platter. Otherwise, arrange the fruit and quince paste between the cheeses so it looks aesthetically pleasing.
- If there is any room on the platter, place the water biscuits, otherwise place them in a separate bowl along side the platter.
- Provide a different cheese knife for each cheese.
Chris says
Hey Kay I do the same with my cheese platter. Great idea to add the goats cheese for the lactose intolerant.
I love blue cheese.
Kay Shafi-Roden says
Chris, You can add any combination of cheeses to suit your guests! Kay