If you’ve already read my blog post about making the ULTIMATE cheese board and charcuterie (you can find it here!), you’re definitely aware of the face that my family LOVES a good cheese board. We enjoy making them, choosing different foods to add, and we especially love eating them! In the true spirit of quarantine boredom and creativity, I decided to transfer this same idea into the dessert category and create an epic dessert-inspired chocolate charcuterie board. And let me just tell you, the results are amazing!
This post contains affiliate links through the Amazon Associates program. If any items are purchased, at no additional cost to you, I will receive a small percentage to help cover the cost of starting this blog.
There are a few basic components to making the dessert board, but overall, it’s very customizable! For this post, I’ll be walking you through MY experience creating this board, but I’ll be putting every step and ingredient under a category, so if you want to create you’re own unique board, it will be easier!
If you’re going to be making this at home…
I would recommend using:
- two-three different types of fruits
- two-three different types of spreads
- three-four different types of carbs or crunchy components
- three-four different types of candies
AND, if you love to cook like I do, I would recommend making a few of the components at home!
The fruits –
I decided to go with fruits that go nicely with chocolate, because there are so many chocolate components on the board. I used 3 fruits on this board: strawberries, raspberries, and banana slices.
If you’re looking for other fruits to include, you can really use whatever you’d like! These are my favorite choices, but you can also use other berries, red currants, cherries, pineapple, pomegranate seeds, or even something like kiwi!
The spreads –
If you’re opting for only 2 spreads, I would advise including one chocolate spread and one that is a contrasting flavor. For my board, I used a homemade cannoli cream and a homemade chocolate ganache.
Making the cannoli cream:
If you want to make your own cannoli cream, you can use my recipe that I used and created for this board. It is easy to dip things in, not too sweet, and SO yummy.
Homemade Cannoli Cream
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/3 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
Instructions
- First, mix together the ricotta, sugar, and mini chocolate chips until combined.
- Next, using an electric mixer or a handheld whisk, whip the heavy cream until it forms soft peaks.
- Add the ricotta mixture to the bowl with the whipped cream, and mix gently with a spatula until fully combined.
- Garnish with fresh mint and add to the board!
Making the chocolate ganache:
The other dip I made for this board was a super easy and simple chocolate ganache. It’s quick to make, and only uses 3 ingredients. It’s a standard recipe for ganache and easy to follow.
Homemade Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup melted semi sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- To a glass bowl, add the chocolate chips and microwave for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted.
- Add the whipping cream and fold into the melted chocolate until smooth and combined. It will look chunky at first, but as you keep folding, it will become silky.
If you’re looking for other dip ideas, here are some of mine: plain whipped cream, strawberry or chocolate buttercream, vanilla custard, white chocolate ganache, cherry cheesecake topping, Nutella mousse, or even a caramel sauce!
The Crunch (or carbs) –
I had 3 crunchy GF components on this board: Glutino brand sandwich cookies, Schar brand Chocolate Stix, and homemade zebra pretzels.
You can obviously use whatever cookies you want, gluten free or not! If you don’t want to use mostly cookies, you can also use mini crepes, cake cubes, waffles, cannoli chips, or anything else that tempts you!
I LOVE the glutino cookies, and if you’re looking for them, you can buy them through this link!
You also know from my instagram account that I buy SO MUCH Schar breads and cookies. I LOVE this brand so much! If you’re looking for the Chocolate Stix I used on this board, you can buy them through the Schar website!
The last crunchy component I used on this board was the homemade zebra pretzels!
Making the chocolate covered pretzels:
Chocolate covered pretzels could not be easier to make! Here are the ingredients you need to make the zebra pretzels I made:
I used Snyder’s gluten free pretzel sticks (you can buy them here), melted semi sweet chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup), melted white chocolate chips (about 3 tbsp), and sprinkles (optional).
The first step is dipping each of the pretzels into the chocolate, and letting them cool on a parchment sheet.
Put your melted white chocolate into a small plastic bag and snip off the tip. This will create a mini piping bag that you can use to create the white stripes that give the pretzels the zebra effect that looks SO pretty on the board.
If you want to, now would be the time to add the sprinkles.
Then, let them set in the fridge or freezer for around one hour!
The candies:
I used 3 candies for this board: Mini peanut butter cups, mini marshmallows, and homemade 3 ingredient fudge!
If you want some more ideas, you could also add saltwater taffy, jelly beans, mini Snickers (or any other candy bar), Sour Patch Watermelon, conversation hearts, Skittles, or Swedish Fish. (All of those are gluten free!!)
Making the fudge –
When I say this is the easiest fudge recipe you’ll ever find, I mean it. It takes 10 minutes at most, and turns out looking and tasting SO professional! All you need are three ingredients: sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and butter. Granted, not the healthiest recipe, but SO SO yummy.
Here’s the recipe:
Homemade 3 Ingredient Fudge
Ingredients
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 3 cups milk chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp butter
Instructions
- In a large pot, melt the chocolate, condensed milk, and butter together until combined. While melting, continuously stir with a silicone spatula.
- Line a square casserole dish with parchment and baking spray, and add the fudge mixture.
- Add some sprinkles on top (optional) and chill in the fridge for a few hours until solid.
- Cut into small cubes, and serve!
MY TIPS for building the board!
- ALWAYS lay down the spreads first! This is because the bowls take up the most space, so I like the build the rest of the board around them.
- Then, create “rivers”. I like to do this with salami on my savory cheese boards, however, for the dessert board I worked with what I had! I used the sandwich cookies and the bananas to create that cascading effect that looks SO professional.
- Fill in empty spaces! At this point, my tips run out and I just do whatever I find aesthetically pleasing. I added more cascading banana slices and fanned out some of the Chocolate Stix.
- Divide up your colors! As you can tell, I added my raspberries in an empty area. The bright red of the raspberries is separated from the pink strawberries by the chocolate cookies. I like the make sure the different colors are spread out.
- Use the smaller components to fill in empty space! I ended up just filling in the rest of the board with the marshmallows, peanut butter cups, and strawberries.
That’s the finished board!
Everything is GF, delicious, and beautiful! I Love making these boards because they are so relaxing, aesthetically pleasing, and last but not least, delicious and easy to share.
If you make this, you can pretty much customize it however you’d like! I hope you enjoy this how-to!