How To Create An Autumn Inspired Charcuterie Board

By Katrina Lander

You can’t not love a charcuterie board, it’s perfect for numerous occasions; cosy night at home, hosting for friends and family or just simply because they’re filled with a delicious selection of food.

I use my Cole & Mason acacia board all year round, it’s beautifully designed and looks elegant which makes it the perfect board for all occasions. 

In my opinion, a great charcuterie board contains plenty of fresh ingredients, looks full and fits in with the season (think seasonal food and colours). It can be a little daunting trying to make it look aesthetically pleasing, but it’s a lot easier than you may think, here are my top tips:

Buy in season:

Having a plan before you hit the supermarket is always a good idea, a great place to start is to look at what’s in season. Buying in season results in fresher and more flavourful produce, it’s also cheaper (always a bonus) and in season produce retains more nutrients. Here are my top in season produce for fall that will be great choices for a charcuterie board:

• Apples (be sure to add these in just before serving as once cut they colour quickly)
• Figs
• Grapes
• Blackberries
• Pickled vegetables
• Blue cheese
• Goats Cheese
• Camembert (this is gorgeous when melted and adds a bit of indulgence)
• Cured meats such as salami and prosciutto (I have used both on my board)
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts

Look at what foods work together:

Once you have a list of in season produce, look at what foods work together. Here are a few examples:

• Figs are sweet and earthy and work well with so many other produces including goats cheese, blue cheese, walnuts, almonds, seeded crackers, honey and chutney.
• Salami is a common meat to have on a charcuterie board and pairs well with gouda cheese, crispy crackers, pickles, honey, grapes and walnuts.
• Goats cheese is beautifully tangy and creamy (it’s one of my top cheeses) it pairs well with seeded crackers, figs, grapes, berries, walnuts, honey and chutney.

Figs, salami and goats cheese pair well with numerous other produce, however I have shown pairings that are common for all three, to give you some ideas of what will work well on your own charcuterie board.

Think in twos:

To keep it interesting and add different colours and sizes, think in twos. 1-2 kinds of cheeses, 1-2 kinds of crackers etc. It will add variety to your platter and take it from looking bland to aesthetically pleasing (plus not everyone likes the same thing). Look at choosing different colours and sizes, for example I opted for round and rectangular crackers, larger and smaller nuts.    

Start with your largest items:

Once you’re ready to start arranging your board, ensure to start with your largest items, which are usually the main ingredients. It’s best to start with these as your base and build around the items, it will make putting your board together a lot easier and creates a flow. Separate them on the board, rather than putting them close together.

Add small bowls:

After arranging your larger items onto your board, I would add some small bowls. I used mine to hold the pickles and honey; as well as giving another dimension to the platter it saves certain ingredients making a mess or scattering across your board. I would also recommend using small bowls for olive oil and balsamic vinegar (great to dip fresh bread in), olives, salt, pepper and knobs of butter.

Assemble your ingredients in a fun way:

Rather than laying all your ingredients flat, think about adding dimensions and different heights. I used the crackers to make a half circle and fan shape, this made use of the space on the board and looks more interesting than placing in a row. For the prosciutto, I folded each one back and forth and then slotted them between the bowl and cheese which kept them in place. For a bit of fun and colour I added a pumpkin for decoration – it is an autumn charcuterie board after all.

Fill in the gaps:

In my opinion a full platter is a good platter, I try not to leave many gaps on the board by filling these with ingredients such as mixed nuts, seeds and fresh herbs. I filled the gaps on my board with walnuts, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds which fits with the fall theme perfectly.   

Keep it colourful:

Choosing some vibrant produce really brings your board to life, and makes it look aesthetically pleasing. Figs are beautiful when cut, so I was sure to spread these out on the board to add pops of colour. Keep in theme by choosing fall colours – orange, brown, burgundy and green.

Ingredients on my board:

• Goats cheese
• Blue cheese
• Prosciutto
• Salami
• Pickled cornichons
• Figs
• Grapes
• Rosemary crackers
• Sea salt crackers
• Honey
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Pumpkin seeds
• Pumpkin for decoration