This quick and easy cheese board shaped like a Christmas wreath is sure to add cheers, nibbles, and a little pizzaz to any festive Christmas party.
One of the best things about this Christmas wreath cheese board is you can go as big or as small with your ingredient list as you like. Use an assortment of cheese by themselves. Or, add as many chutneys, biscuits, pickled and brined antipasti, charcuterie and cheeses as you can fit on your festive platter.
Cheese Selection
In our tasty festive Christmas wreath we have chosen all the very best cheeses for true Christmas indlugence. Included in our selection is a cheddar voted fourth best cheese in the world, sublime a raw milk blue cheese and a classic Christmas favourite cheese, Tunworth.
Beneath the white wrinkly rind is a dense, ultra-creamy interior with a moreish lactic tang. It’s wonderfully dense and rich, and has a mouthfeel not unlike butter. With an earthy aroma on the nose, at first you’ll detect hints of yoghurt and grassy sweetness on the palate, which then unfurl into toasty notes. This lovely little organic cheese not only looks beautiful on the plate, it also packs a creamy punch.
Wrapped in a vine leaf, White Lake Cheese's Eve takes its inspiration from the south of France – namely Provence's Banon. Made using unpasteurised milk from the dairy's own herd of white Saanen, brown and white Toggenburg, black and white British Alpine and Anglo-Nubian goats. The rind, with its light blooms, has a gorgeous sweetness from the brandy, balancing against the natural sharpness of the goat's milk.
Rich, creamy and resplendent with a vibrant blue. The classic stilton should never be far away from any cheese box and this traditional, hand-ladled Blue Stilton is the perfect fit for your cheeseboard puzzle. Gorgeously rich and tangy with a distinctly unique, strong flavour, Cropwell Bishop's Blue Stilton has a melt in the mouthfeel and velvety soft texture.
A genuine British cheese superstar, Pitchfork cheddar is a full-bodied cheese with a glorious undertone of caramel, tropical fruit and savoury notes. This farmhouse cheddar is named after the pitchforks that are used to toss the curds in the salt just after milling and before packing into the moulds. It has joined the prestigious Slow Food Presidium, which aims to protect traditional foods that are at risk of extinction. Made by the Trethowan Brothers only 5 miles away from Cheddar itself using traditional methods.It is no wonder that it has been voted the 4th Best Cheese in the World!
This Camembert-style cheese needs no introduction. A genuine British cheese superstar, Tunworth can hold its own against anything France has to offer. Made by Stacey Hedges and Charlotte Spruce in Hampshire, the soft mould-ripened cheese has been named Supreme Champion at the British Cheese Awards twice since it was first made in 2005. It is loved by cheese aficionados for its thin wrinkled rind and sweet flavour, which takes in vegetal notes.
Preparing the Cheese
Cheese should be kept in the cold, but it certainly shouldn't be eaten that way. Serving cheese fridge cold inhibts some of the falvours of the cheese and can supress the texture also.
To allow your cheese to be enjoyed at its best remove it from the fridge one or two hours before serving.
It is easier to cut the cheese when it is fridge cold, this helps you create clean slices with less crumble or collapse.
Most cheese vary in flavour from nose to rind, exploring the differnece in flavour is part if the pleasure of enjoying a cheese board. To make sure your guest enjoy the full exprerience you'll need to cut your cheese in slices allowing them to taste both the centre of the cheese all the way through to the rind.
To cut the Tunworth, Bix and Eve simply cut like a cake, in half, half again until you have cute little wedges of cheese.
For the Pitchfork Cheddar place your knife at the nose of the cheese and follow it right down to the rind, creating smaller wedges or battons of cheese.
Lastly for the beautifully vibrant blue Cropwell Bishop Stilton, place on its side and slice lengthways down the cheese, creating skinny flat wedges of cheese that carry the veins and all the lovely flavour from nose to rind.
Any space cheese can be wrapped in greeseproof paper or beeswax wraps and stored back in the fridge for another day.
Styling the Christmas Wreath Cheese Board
Firtsly choose your cheese board base. Take a large round wooden board, plate or tray and place on the table where you intend to serve your cheese board, it's far easier to build it in place than try and move it once you have filled it with cheese.
Take the large bunch of rosemary (sage and bay leaves also work) and cut into short branches. Place the rosemary around the board in a sweeping fashion tucking the ends of the rosemary under the board.
Next, arrange your cheese on the board. In little piles dotting the cheese around the outside of the board.
In a small ramakin, dollop in a good helping of chutney and place the bowl in one of the larger gaps between the cheeses.
Now, add in your biscuits, making sure you are piling enough on to be used as vessels for the cheese.
Once your biggest and most important items have been placed on the board, you can now fill the gaps in decorative fashion wth fresh fruit, pickles and charcuterie.
When you have completed your festive wreath cheese board, place a damp tea towl over it to keep a little moisture in the cheese before serving.
Don't forget to place any cheese cutlery you may need in reaching distance of the board.
You can also place a pretty candle in the centre of the wreath to really up the festive vibes!
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