Turning your regular charcuterie board into a charcuterie WREATH is hands down the easiest way to make a showstopping Christmas appetizer centrepiece. Arrange a selection of your favourite cured meats, cheese, fruit and jams in a wreath shape and you’re done.
A cheese or charcuterie board just sings of the Christmas season and this version offers up a very fun, very festive twist. You can’t go wrong here and it’s a great way to let your creativity fly. It’s as simple as layering a load of goodies into a wreath shape and it could not be easier.
You can jazz things up by making a couple of salami roses using a small glass, and I love to use mini cookie cutters to make little stars and Christmas tree shapes out of cheese.
My biggest piece of advice is to have a good mix of colours, textures and flavours and it’s FINE if it’s not perfect. I also find that making a very rough sketch of how you want to arrange the wreath is SUPER helpful – it lets you easily visualise what to place and layer where and makes things a lot easier.
Ingredients
Everything you use is interchangeable, based on what you like and what you have on hand.
- Meat. I like to go for a selection of salami and prosciutto and you could use Christmas glazed ham too. To make the fun salami roses, you’ll want to go for large, thin salami that’s easy to fold, anything too small or too stiff won’t work.
- Cheese. Go for a mix of something soft and creamy (like brie or camembert), something sharp and crumbly (like mature cheddar, parmesan or manchego), something milder and buttery (Gruyere or Havarti), something festive (like cranberry or apricot studded cheese) and then something strong (like creamy blue cheese) for a great mix. To make the cute little Christmas shapes, you’ll want to use a firm cheese that doesn’t crumble – I find Gruyere great for this, and Havarti would work too.
- Fruit. Think about different sizes and colours – mixed grapes and berries are lovely, and pomegranate seeds give the wreath a pop of festive magic.
- Relish and jam. Hot honey sauce, sweet chilli jam, and fig chutney are all fab options, and caramelized onions would also be great.
Serving crackers, crostini or bread in the middle of the wreath is a great way to use that space. Try a mix of pita chips, sourdough crackers, crispy crostini, flatbreads and fresh fluffy bread, like focaccia.
How to make it
To help guide you, arrange rosemary sprigs in a large circle on your board. This is the outer border of your wreath. To make your salami roses, layer your salami around a champagne flute, or another glass with a narrow rim (anything too large won’t work as well). You want to do at least two layers of salami to create your roses.
Cut your selected cheese into bite-sized pieces, so it’s easy for your guests to pick up and eat. Use small cutters to make little Christmas shapes from the firmer cheese (Gruyere or Havarti is great for this). I like to make a few skewers with folds of salami too, then arrange everything on the board, along with little bowls of jam or chutney.
Try to alternate between cheese and meat, using different colours to make it look gorgeously festive. Fill in the gaps with berries, grapes, dried fruit and nuts, then serve the crackers or bread either on the side or in the middle of your wreath.
Watch how to make it
Got a question?
Yes! Arrange everything on your board, then cover it with clingfilm and pop it into the fridge overnight, to serve the next day.
Olives, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers or little bowls of basil pesto or sundried tomato pesto would be lovely, and you really can add whatever you and your guests like best.
Like this idea? Here are more showstopping Christmas appetizers to try
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave me a comment below.
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How to Make a Christmas Charcuterie Wreath
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings
Description
Turning your regular charcuterie board into a charcuterie WREATH is hands down the easiest way to make a showstopping Christmas appetizer centrepiece. Arrange a selection of your favourite cured meats, cheese, fruit and jams in a wreath shape and you’re done.
You’ll need a small glass (I use a champagne flute) if you’d like to make salami roses, toothpicks or small skewers and if you have small Christmas cookie cutters, you can make cheese decorations for your board.
Ingredients
Garnish –
- Rosemary sprigs
- Nuts (I like pecans, almonds or pistachios)
Meat –
- Salami (a variety of sizes and textures – you need soft, larger salami to make roses)
- Prosciutto slices
- Christmas ham, sliced
Cheese (choose at least one from each category) –
- Something soft and creamy (brie, camembert, burrata, mozzarella, Port Salut, creamy feta)
- Something sharp and crumbly (parmesan, manchego, pecorino, blue cheese, mature cheddar, red Leicester)
- Something festive (Wensleydale with cranberries or apricots, goat’s cheese rolled in cranberries)
- Something milder and buttery (gruyere, Havarti, Emmental or Gouda)
Fruit –
- Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries or blackberries are great)
- Seedless grapes (use different colours)
- Cranberries or pomegranate seeds
- Dried fruit (apricots, mangoes, cranberries, figs or dates)
Jams and chutneys (choose a couple of your favourites – I like these) –
Crackers and bread –
- Pita chips
- Your favourite crackers (I like these sourdough crackers)
- Sliced French baguette, focaccia or seeded bread
Instructions
- Make the salami roses. Layer large, soft pieces of salami all around the edge of your small glass, making sure that half the salami is inside the glass and half is outside, overlapping each piece slightly. For the rose to look best, make at least 3 layers of overlapping salami around the glass. Turn the glass over, then gently remove it from the salami. You should be left with a gorgeous, rose shape for your board. I like to make two or three roses for a board.
- Make Christmas shapes from cheese. For this, you want to choose cheese that is firm and buttery, not crumbly. I like to use parmesan, Gruyere or Havarti. Cut your chosen cheese into large thin slices, then use your mini cookie cutters to cut out different shapes.
- Outline your wreath. Use the rosemary sprigs to make a large circle on your board to help guide where you place your ingredients.
- Arrange your wreath. I like to start by placing the salami roses around the wreath, and then placing little bowls of jam and chutney around the edges. Thread a few pieces of salami onto toothpicks, then start layering your diced and sliced cheeses in little piles around the board. Try to have a good contrast of colours and ingredients, so don’t put all the cheese piles next to each other, spread them around evenly. Arrange the rest of your cured meat around the board.
- Fill in the gaps and finish. Scatter the berries and pomegranate seeds around the wreath, making sure to mix up the colours. Place the grapes on the board too, then fill in any gaps with dried fruit or nuts. Arrange the Christmas cheese shapes all over the board. Have a look, and move anything around if things look a little uneven – try to make sure you have a good combination of colours and textures. Use more rosemary to close the wreath by making a smaller circle in the middle of your wreath. You can either serve the crackers and bread in the middle of the wreath or just place them on the side.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: You can arrange the whole wreath, then just cover it with clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight, so it’s a good way to get ahead during the busy Christmas season.
INGREDIENT NOTES: There are no hard and fast rules here, use whatever you like or what your guests like best! You could also add olives, pickles and sundried tomatoes.
LEFTOVERS? Use leftover cheese and meat in a lovely festive grilled cheese, throw them into salads or use the cheese to make leftover festive mac and cheese.
- Prep Time: 10
- Category: appetizers
- Method: no cook
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 100g
Keywords: charcuterie board, christmas charcuterie
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