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The Bay Leaf Kitchen

a celebration of good food, travel, & life

6 Steps to Create the Perfect Fall Cheese Plate

I went into this post with one simple objective: make the prettiest and most appetizing cheese plate for fall. Did I succeed? I think so!
I love the look of a totally overstocked cheese plate. It looks welcoming, delicious, appetizing, and complicated. When really, it’s super easy. In fact, I was thinking, as I was making this, that it would be AWESOME to have used cheese plates as centerpieces for the tables at my wedding. Anyone getting married soon? I’ll make your cheese plate centerpieces!

NOTE: At the very end of this post, I have a few things I want to put out there about the blog and my thoughts going forward. Scroll down to the bottom for that for that.

BUT for this post, I wanted to share some tips for putting together the most perfect cheese plate. Here are some basic guidelines for what to buy:

When thinking about a cheese plate, try to hit as many different flavors AND textures as possible. Balance them out. Some key elements:

  • Textures: Soft, Crunchy
  • Flavors: Sweet, Salty, Spicy

When buying cheese, also buy a variety of types/flavors. If it’s for a big crowd, I typically buy 1 soft cheese like brie (always a crowd-pleaser), 1 well-loved hard cheese (like a fancy cheddar), and 1 other salty, white, hard cheese like gouda or manchego. For myself, I would normally only buy hard salty cheeses because they are my favorites.

All good cheese plates have these things in common.

It’s the variations that help you get creative:

  1. At least 3 cheeses
  2. Meat: salami, proscuitto
  3. A cracker: or fresh bread
    • A creative idea: Parmesan crisps or twists!
  4. Something pickled: olives or pickles
    • A creative idea: bread & butter pickles! artichokes!
  5. Something fresh: fruit
    • A creative idea: pomegranate seeds! persimmons! fresh berries!
  6. Something crunchy:  nuts
    • A creative idea: candy them first! or get gourmet snack mix!
  7. Bonus: A spread!
    • Fig jam or artichoke dip or honey!
  8. Bonus: A fresh herb for decoration

 

When putting together your cheese plate, follow these 6 steps:

  1. First, place your largest items down on the cheese board. (cheese, smaller bowls)
  2. Arrange the larger items so there is a good amount of space between each, and you will fill this up with extras!
  3. Fill the spaces with extras like crackers, fruit, sliced meat. If you want the “overabundance” look (like pictured), make sure there’s no spaces between objects.
  4. Squint at the cheese plate. This will help you see if there’s an imbalance of one color or objects on one side of the plate, vs. the other.
  5. MOST IMPORTANT: Actually cut into the cheese! People will not generally eat the cheese if it hasn’t been sliced. It’s a weird psychology thing, but it’s so true. It’s kind of like the psychological thing of not wanting to be that person who  eats the last piece, which leads me to my next & final step:
  6. ENJOY & RESTOCK as the party goes on. Nobody likes to eat the last cracker or piece of cheese. Use up all your leftovers!

For the curious, here’s what I used in my pictured cheese plate:

  • CHEESE: Manchego, Brie, Some fancy orange cheese I bought at Whole Foods
  • MEAT: Salami
  • CRUNCHY: Pumpkin seeds (which I candied! 1 tbsp of maple syrup, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 350 degrees for 15 mins, let dry and then break apart)
  • CRACKER: Amazing fruity crispy crackers
  • PICKLED: Pickled peppers
  • SWEET/FRESH: figs

— A note about the blog —

It’s been a while since I posted something To be honest, it’s because blogging  feels like a chore. I spent some time thinking about what I hope to do with this project, and came up with a few thoughts:
1) I love to take pretty photos, edit them, and share them.
2) I love expressing myself through my writing and photography. It’s something I can always get better at, but it’s fun to do.
3) I DON’T love writing recipes (it’s the hardest part of a food blog — replicating your work and writing out EVERY step and EVERY measurement)
3) I DON’T love being boxed in to a specific category.

Henceforth, I’ve made a decision about my blog:  it’s going to be about more than food.
Food is such an integral part of life. As I write in my “about” page — it’s so deeply tied to memories good and bad for us. It’s fun to eat and to make and to share. I want to keep writing about food, but also about other things that make life great.

So going forward I’ll be sharing more on here about travel, my puppy, my families, about life, about decisions, and faith. And I hope you’ll follow 🙂

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