Create the perfect New Year's Eve charcuterie board with a mix of meats, cheeses, fruits and sweets. Perfect for sharing and celebrating with friends and family!
Put together in no time, this party platter will be a hit at your table so make sure to include it on your list of NYE appetizers for this year!
How to make New Year's Eve charcuterie board
Gather the ingredients:
- Cheeses – Round camembert is the most important one here, then Cheddar, Manchego or any other kind of cheese you prefer.
- Sweets – It is New Year’s Eve so include some fancy-looking chocolates, if you can!
- Fruits – I only used grapes here because they keep well outside the fridge, and everyone loves them.
- Deli meats – Dry-cured salami or prosciutto are great options.
- Dried fruit – Diced pineapple bits are tasty, almost like sweets but you can use other fruits. These also go well with the golden-pale color scheme.
- Nuts – Anything you like will work here. If you want to impress your guests, make cinnamon-roasted almonds!
- Crackers of your choice – Here I used caramelized onion crostini-like bites because I could not find my favorite raisin ones, but we did not enjoy those at all.
What should I have to make it work?
- Large round cheese board – a 16-inch (40-centimeter) is ideal here.
- Cutting board and knife – to prep the cheeses.
- Black food marker
- Toothpicks – Or cocktail sticks are always great to pick the snacks.
Once you have gathered all the ingredients and done your prep, assemble and serve! You can follow a similar pattern that I have on the photo, or a different one!
Can I make it ahead?
Yes, you can. Best way is to prep all the ingredients in advance and assemble the board right before serving or prep the whole board and keep it refrigerated before serving. The issue with the second option here is that you might not be able to fit it into your fridge, so check this beforehand.
How far in advance can I make my charcuterie board?
When using similar ingredients, you can make (assemble) the board up to 4 hours before serving, then keep refrigerated until it is time to serve.
Tip: Most of the foods are OK at room temperature so you can assemble it ahead with everything. Then, remove the cheeses and salami and store those in the fridge. Shortly before your party starts, re-arrange them back on the platter!
How many people does this serve?
As with everything, not only with appetizers, the serving size can vary. If you are making other New Year’s Eve foods or snacks as well, then this might serve more than 8 people. But, if this is your main appetizer, you will need to make it bigger and perhaps include more varieties of snacks.
Julia’s tips:
You can omit the Ferrero Rocher chocolates and use other sweets instead. What about hazelnut pirouettes or white fudge-covered pretzels. Or perhaps golden chocolate coins!
- Like with all the charcuterie and cheese boards, please remember that you can easily omit or substitute with ingredients you like. Especially when it comes to cheeses and deli meats. It is important that you are going to enjoy your creation!
- Instead of using a black food marker, you could cut out a circle in the size of a camembert. Draw the numbers and clock pointers and simply place it on top of the cheese.
- If you don’t want any chocolates on your New Year’s Eve charcuterie board, why not make cheese ball bites instead?
- Please count with the possibility that the marker can seep into the cheese as time goes by.
Best New Year’s Eve appetizers that are easy to make:
New Year’s Eve Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
- 1 round camembert (250 grams)
- 1 pound yellow grapes (450 grams, see note 1)
- 16 pieces Ferrero Rocher chocolates (see note 2)
- 7 ounces cheddar (200 grams, see note 3)
- 7 ounces Manchego cheese (200 grams)
- Spanish fuet salami (120 grams, see note 4)
- ⅓ cup dried pineapple (60 grams, see note 5)
- ½ cup whole pistachios (60 grams)
- Crackers of your choice (see note)
- Black food-friendly marker
Instructions
- First, with the marker, draw the numbers (you can write down all of them, but I recommend only the 12, 3, 6 and 9) and the clock pointers showing “5 to 12” time.
- Place it in the middle of a 16-inch (40-centimeter) round serving board. Arrange the rest of the ingredients around creating lines coming from the outer edge towards the clock. Check the photos if in doubt. The best is to start with large items like grapes, salami and Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Then, fill the gaps between them.
Notes
- It is important that the grapes are thoroughly dried with a clean kitchen towel after being rinsed. Not doing so can turn other items that touch them soggy.
- Ferrero Rocher chocolates can be substituted with other sweets. Preferably golden, light-yellow color, but not necessary.
- I used mature cheddar, but you can use any kind you like. Or substitute it with other cheese that you can easily dice. The same goes for Manchego cheese. There is no point in preparing a platter with items you know you or your guests don’t like.
- Any salami is a great choice. Italian Prosciutto or Spanish Serrano ham are also options.
- This is not your typical dried pineapple pieces. These are chewy and very tasty. If you cannot get your hands on similar, use something else instead.
- Use any crackers you like – Water crackers, cheese crackers or Grissini sticks. If you can’t fit them on your board, simply serve them on side.
- Tip: If you mess up the numbers, don’t worry! Turn the cheese over and have another go. Or cut out a circle from paper (or edible paper) and write on it instead. Then, place on top of the cheese.
- This platter usually holds well at room temperature for up to 3-4 hours.
- To make it ahead: I personally recommend prepping the items a few hours prior to serving, keeping them in the fridge and arranging them later. Or, prep and assemble so you know what it looks like. Then, carefully remove the cheeses and salami and put them in the fridge. Leave the rest as is. Re-assemble just before serving.
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