How To: Easy Christmas Entertaining Platter

Top tips: 

• When choosing a board, make sure it’s going to be big enough to hold all your ingredients without items rolling off. If you don’t have a large enough serving board, consider a lined baking tray or large baking dish as an alternative. 
• Use small bowls to contain dips and wet ingredients like pickles and olives, and arrange components in varying heights to add visual depth and interest. 
• Start with the largest items first like cheeses, large fruit clusters, and bowls. 
• Create height by stacking and layering ingredients like cheese slices, breads and crackers.  
• Ensure you have cheese knives for slicing, small spoons for dips and forks so people can take what they need. 
• Fill in gaps with smaller items like nuts, herbs, and berries making the platter look full and abundant. 
• Ensure there is a good balance of ingredients, including fresh, sweet, savoury and sour. 
• Experiment with different ingredients, surprise your guests! 
• When choosing cheese, pick anywhere from 3 - 5 different combinations. Go for something soft and creamy, a hard nutty cheese, and then something strong or fruity. That way you can have a number of different combinations with your crudités and expand on the pairings from there.  
• You can dress up a simple wheel of soft cheese like Brie or Camembert by melting it in the oven or air fryer, then drizzling hot honey over the top and surrounding it with crackers or vegetable sticks. By adding temperature, you are adding  another element. 
• With cheese, you can also make cheese dips—dress whipped cream cheese with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, chopped cornichons and fresh herbs. 
• Finishing your dips with salt and pepper, plus a good glug of olive oil (and squeeze of fresh lemon juice if you have it on hand) goes a long way in elevating your board. 
• You can cater to diets easily with a board, with vegan cheese selections (or blitz your own soaked cashews to make a delicious nutty dip). Make sure you keep these separate and let your guests know if there are any special dietary items made specially. 
• Think about the elements of flavour—salty, sweet, sour, and savoury when making your platter. Salty cheeses, sweet fruits, sour pickles and savoury meats can really help round the board as a whole. 
• There’s no right or wrong way to make a platter—focus on fresh and locally sourced products. If you find something unique, showcase it on the board and supplement it with fresh produce. Always use seasonal fruits and veges to keep cost down. Not everything needs to be premium on the board. 
• You can make your platter even more impressive by making your own pickles or marinades in advance and keeping them in the fridge for moments like this.