A Chocolate Charcuterie Board is an easy way to serve dessert at your next get together. A beautiful collection of chocolate, nuts, fruits, and cakes will encourage your guests to partake and enjoy each others’ company. And prepping it advance allows you to enjoy them, too!
Here’s the thing about Charcuterie Boards. They might seem complicated and intimidating – piles of fancy meats and cheeses – but really, it’s just another way to display a relish tray! Sure, you can spend loads of money on fancy foods. But you can implement the basic principles of a charcuterie board with budget options and achieve the same affect.
Either way, the appeal of the charcuterie board lies in the casual, friendly nature of the display. It encourages your guests to sit around the table, enjoying this shared dish, and lingering throughout the evening. It also serves as a beautiful and functional centerpiece, piquing interest and sparking conversation.
Charcuterie boards are traditionally made with meat, then paired with various crackers and cheeses. Additional fruits, nuts, and spreads are accents to the foundations. We love this version for appetizers, but we wanted to give a dessert board a try.
So, we felt inspired to create a Chocolate Charcuterie Board. We started with our favorite chocolates and added goodies to compliment. Let us break down what we included.
Chocolate
High-quality chocolate is the foundation of your chocolate charcuterie board. You’ll want to use a couverture chocolate that is made with cocoa butter. The taste and texture of high-quality chocolate will be highlighted and appreciated! Try for a variety of types of chocolate to please your guests – milk, semisweet, bittersweet, and white! We love to include both wafers and blocks of chocolate, adding visual interest.
We also love to make a little chocolate ganache to serve as a dip on the board. Mixing chocolate and cream, result in a spreadable consistency, allowing guests to dip long into the evening.
Check out our selection of high-quality, couverture chocolates here.
Nuts
An assortment of roasted and salted nuts adds a nice balance to the chocolate charcuterie board. A classic mix of nuts is always appreciated. I like a few piles of pistachios for their pop of color! But always be mindful of any allergies, as all the ingredients will be sharing the same space!
Shop our selection of nuts here.
Fresh Fruit
An element of freshness adds beauty and cleanses the palate during a chocolate feast. Grapes, strawberries, raspberries, pears, bananas, and pineapple are all great choices. Just think, “Would this taste good dipped in chocolate?”
If the answer is, “yes,” include it on your chocolate charcuterie board!
Baked Goods
Pound cake, cookies, muffins, croissants, donuts, angel food cake, brownies. Yup. All of those. And more taste great with chocolate. No one is going to be sad if a few bite-sized desserts are piled on your board! Just make sure they are sturdy enough to be picked up with fingers or little forks!
Boards
You can buy a new board, with the specific intention of creating a charcuterie board. You can also use your existing wood cutting board. Or a nice platter. Ora sheet pan!
Just keep in mind the size of your party and adjust the size accordingly!
Check out our selection of wood boards here.
Utensils
Be thoughtful to the guests at your party and offer a few utensils for gathering food for their own plates. Toothpicks, tiny forks and spoon, little bowls, etc! Basically, it’s the perfect justification for your collection of tiny utensils!
Check out toothpick options here.
And little utensils here. (Tasting forks. Mini Tongs. Tasting Spoons.)
Chocolate Charcuterie Board Recap
I hope this breakdown makes a treat board feel attainable for you! Don’t feel intimidated! Just start piling your favorite treats. You can’t go wrong when they’re all piled up on a tray!
See the Chocolate Charcuterie Board in action on Studio5 KSL. Watch our segment to learn a few more tips and tricks! Video here!
