Charcuterie Chalet
Courtesy of Meg Quinn
Meg Quinn has been recognized on Instagram for her charcuterie skills, runs the blog Ain’t Too Proud To Meg, and is releasing a cheeseboard deck full of her favorite charcuterie boards. For the holiday season, she has shared with us her show-stopping Charcuterie Chalet. For easy decorating and a dynamic display, build your chalet on a lazy Susan. Use a thin wire to help hold the sage leaves in a wreath shape, and find a festive red and white string to tie together the “log” piles.
How to Make It
1
Spread cream cheese out on your board to use as your base. Using the cream cheese as glue, put the gingerbread house together according to the package instructions. Before adding the roof, spread cream cheese on all four sides of the house, then add the roof. Cover the roof in cream cheese, then layer the salami rounds on the roof to make tiles.
2
Add pretzel snaps to each side of the house to create windows, and use flatbreads to make a door. Add the orange slices above the windows and door(s) as awnings. Attach the provolone cut-outs under the gables of the house.
3
Make a chimney out of flatbreads and attach it to the roof, then add the pretzel twists to the joints of the gingerbread house, using more cream cheese as needed. Attach the sage leaves to the house or roof in the shape of a wreath using cream cheese as glue. Sprinkle the parmesan over the cream cheese base and on the roof to create a fresh snow effect.
4
Trim the rosemary and place upside down in the cream cheese lawn to create a tree effect. Lay pretzel rods horizontally in the lawn to mimic log piles, then place the mushroom caps on the lawn upside down to create makeshift planters and fill with thyme and sugared cranberries.
5
Create a walkway using almonds, and line the walkway with small sprigs of thyme.
6
Build a snowman out of the mini brie bites and hold them together using toothpicks. Make a reindeer using the unwrapped Babybel and add pretzels to the top to mimic antlers. Build a santa out of the wrapped and half-wrapped Babybel cheeses and hold them together using toothpicks. Then create a sled out of flatbreads and attach the Santa figure to the sled with cream cheese.
7
Add the finishing touches to the doors, snowman, and Santa with edible ink markers.
Ingredients
16 oz cream cheese
1 store-bought gingerbread house base
16 oz salami
22 pretzel snaps
5 pieces of Rustic Bakery's Flatbreads
4 dried orange rounds (halved)
12 oz pretzel twists
8 oz provolone (sliced)
fresh sage leaves
8 oz parmesan (grated)
fresh sprigs rosemary
3 pretzel logs
2 button or cremini mushrooms (stems removed)
fresh sprigs thyme
sugared cranberries
4 oz Marcona almonds
2 brie bites
3 Babybel cheeses (one wrapped, one unwrapped, and one half unwrapped)
black and orange edible ink markers
snowflake cookie cutter
Directions
1
Spread cream cheese out on your board to use as your base. Using the cream cheese as glue, put the gingerbread house together according to the package instructions. Before adding the roof, spread cream cheese on all four sides of the house, then add the roof. Cover the roof in cream cheese, then layer the salami rounds on the roof to make tiles.
2
Add pretzel snaps to each side of the house to create windows, and use flatbreads to make a door. Add the orange slices above the windows and door(s) as awnings. Attach the provolone cut-outs under the gables of the house.
3
Make a chimney out of flatbreads and attach it to the roof, then add the pretzel twists to the joints of the gingerbread house, using more cream cheese as needed. Attach the sage leaves to the house or roof in the shape of a wreath using cream cheese as glue. Sprinkle the parmesan over the cream cheese base and on the roof to create a fresh snow effect.
4
Trim the rosemary and place upside down in the cream cheese lawn to create a tree effect. Lay pretzel rods horizontally in the lawn to mimic log piles, then place the mushroom caps on the lawn upside down to create makeshift planters and fill with thyme and sugared cranberries.
5
Create a walkway using almonds, and line the walkway with small sprigs of thyme.
6
Build a snowman out of the mini brie bites and hold them together using toothpicks. Make a reindeer using the unwrapped Babybel and add pretzels to the top to mimic antlers. Build a santa out of the wrapped and half-wrapped Babybel cheeses and hold them together using toothpicks. Then create a sled out of flatbreads and attach the Santa figure to the sled with cream cheese.
7
Add the finishing touches to the doors, snowman, and Santa with edible ink markers.
Search All of Sunset's Recipes
The Latest
This Oakland Kitchen’s Makeover Was Inspired by the Homeowner’s Late Mother
