How to Put Together a Dessert Cheese Board

Valentine’s Day . . . a day filled with chocolates, flowers, candy hearts, and in our book, cheese. In honor of one of the sweetest days of the year, we put together a romantic Deer Creek dessert cheeseboard that even Cupid’s heart would desire. Here are some simple steps to follow in creating your own special Valentine cheeseboard.

Step 1 – Choose Your Cheese Selection

We began with three of our favorite cheeses. The Doe – because it is uniquely perfumed with intoxicatingly aromatic and woodsy pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean. The Blue Jay – because of the ethereal piney bouquet that gracefully compliments the cheese’s incredible creaminess. The Fawn – because it is sweetly nutty that seems delicate at first, yet delightfully lingers on.

Step 2 – Decide on Your Cheeseboard Theme

We chose to do an over-the-top Valentine’s Day dessert cheeseboard filled with lots of Valentine goodies, especially chocolate.

Ahhh, cheese and chocolate, two of the delicacies we crave because they look good, they smell good, and they taste oh so good. Together they are a match made in heaven. We decided to go all out in our cheeseboard and make a decadent heart-shaped Valentine cheeseball with The Doe and Kirsch soaked cherries, covered with dark chocolate shavings.

The Chocolate Doe Cheeseball

What You’ll Need:

• 1/2 c dried tart cherries
• 3 T Kirsch, or cherry flavored wine
• 2 c The Doe, shredded
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 c dark chocolate shavings

Directions:

1. Soak the cherries in Kirsch for 20 minutes.
2. In a food processor, blend The Doe and the cream cheese until smooth. Drain the cherries and fold them into the cheese mixture. Form the cheese and cherry mixture into a heart-shaped ball. Place the cheeseball on a wax paper lined dish or plate. Coat the cheeseball with the chocolate shavings, gently pressing the shavings into the cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one to two hours until it is set

Step 3 – Add Some Fruit

Fruit is a natural accompaniment to cheese and goes beautifully on a cheeseboard, adding color, texture, and flavor. Grapes are a traditional cheese pairing but don’t be afraid to experiment with other fruits like berries, pears, apples, and pineapple that complement and enhance the cheeses. Because we were doing a Valentine’s Day cheeseboard, we chose to add strawberries and raspberries. Both added to the look of the cheeseboard while complimenting the cheeses.

In addition to the berries, we added sliced pears. Blue cheese and pears have been a classic pairing throughout the ages. The sweet crispness of the pear beautifully compliments the salty creaminess of the Blue. And together they are yum! We put a dollop The Blue Jay on long slices of succulent red Anjou pears.

Step 4 – Sweeten It Up

We added extra chocolate– delicious Lindt Intense Orange dark chocolate to be exact– colorful heart-shaped shortbread cookies, and cute heart shaped crackers to round out the cheeseboard. It was love at first sight.

Happy Valentine’s Day!