Creating the ultimate Christmas cheeseboard
Creating the ultimate Christmas cheeseboard is indeed a skill, balancing sweet and savoury, creaminess and crunch and serving a great variety of different cheeses to create mouthfuls filled with flavour, interest and delight.
Discover our top tips for creating your own festive feast to delight your friends and family this Christmas
Our festive cheeseboard essentials:
First thing’s first
Don’t forget to bring your cheese out of the fridge at least an hour before serving so they can warm to room temperature which allow the flavours and textures to be unleashed. There is a world of difference between a cold Yorkshire Blue fresh out the fridge and the Yorkshire Blue that has been left to warm to room temperature, and this goes for most cheeses.
We make Yorkshire Blue the star of the show
Smooth, creamy, and versatile, or for something a little different try our Organic Yorkshire Blue this year. It won the Supreme Champion Cheese at the prestigious Artisan Cheese Awards back in May.
Add richness and colour
Add Harrogate Blue for richness and colour, it’s golden body really stands out. You can also add a nutty farmhouse Cheddar, and a wildcard such as truffle Brie or Katy’s White Lavender which is our sheep milk cheese, marinated in lavender flowers.
Rule of thumb
Include at least four styles, a soft, hard, blue, and “surprise.” You can also focus on different milks which differentiate cheeses and encourage guests to explore the differences.
This year we’ll be adding Fen Farm’s Baron Bigod and Quicke’s Mature Cheddar to balance our board out and whatever we discover closer to Christmas that we may want to add in too.
Prepare to Pair
We serve it with whole range of accompaniments from chutneys and honey to figs, honeycomb, chocolate and ripe pears, but as cheesemakers we really do enjoy just letting the cheese do the talking too - sometimes it’s nice to keep it simple.
Pairing ideas:
Go beyond just crackers, pile your board high with figs, dates, quince paste and crusty French bread.
Harrogate Blue x Yorkshire honey — indulgent and local.
Mrs Bell’s Blue x dark chocolate - unexpected but delicious mix of sweet and savoury.
Buffalo Blue x crunchy honeycomb - One of our favourites! The crunch and the sweetness contrast beautifully with the creamy savouriness of the Buffalo Blue.
Yorkshire Blue x Christmas cake - the spice and fruit complement the cheese beautifully.
A “Bluemin” good discovery
It was at Christmas time that we discovered that baking our Bluemin Whites worked so well. The whole family loved it! It stole the show so much so that we've since gone on to create our own recipe for it which you can find here.
You don’t need to add very much because they're so flavourful already, just a little honey for sweetness perhaps and some roasted nuts for crunch. They really are delicious and perfect for when you have guests.
Caring for cheese and using leftovers
Ideally you should keep it in its original wrapping, in the salad drawer in the fridge if bought ahead. Re-wrap with parchment paper or kitchen foil for blue cheeses if you need to or use one of our wax wraps which allows the cheese to breath.
Bring out at least an hour before serving so it can warm to room temperature and flavours can be unleashed.
Use your leftovers to make easy nutritious meals for the rest of Christmas week. Our creamy blue cheeses are brilliant for adding to “bubble and squeak” or simple mashed potato for extra flavour. Try stirring into pasta dishes to make a quick and easy dish, or roast with Brussel sprouts to add instant flavour and creaminess.
At Christmas, cheese is such a brilliant and thoughtful gift. Having a great selection in your fridge over the festive season will serve you in so many ways, and knowing the stories behind the cheeses will enrich your experience even further, and that’s why buying from local shops where they know the producers personally is fabulous.
You can find a local stockist near you here and discover more pairing suggestions and recipe inspiration on our website too.