How to Create a Gorgeous Charcuterie Bouquet

After coming across several photos of charcuterie bouquets online I knew I had to try making one. A charcuterie bouquet is perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter or anytime in the spring when you want to serve up a beautiful and fresh charcuterie board.

Below you can see exactly how I created this charcuterie board including the ingredients I used, how I arranged the board, and a few suggestions for altering and serving this bouquet full of charcuterie flowers

What is a Charcuterie Flower Bouquet

A charcuterie bouquet is a charcuterie board arranged to look like a bouquet of flowers. I’ve seen many different designs but settled on nestling a group of charcuterie flowers in a bed of kale. This board is should be served alongside a bowl of crackers or other ingredients to make eating in easier.

While this is of course and= edible board, it is also a showstopper and could easily be the centerpiece of a dinner party of gathering.

Ingredients for a Charcuterie Bouquet

Below you can find a list of ingredients to create this charcuterie bouquet. You can easily substitute other vegetable and fruit. Berries in particular would be a great addition to this board, or you could do even sweeter with some chocolate. This bouquet charcuterie design is gluten free and you can leave off the cheese to make it dairy-free.

Ingredients:

• Kale
• Salami
• Round pieces of Proscuitto
• Cheese – thinly sliced. Chooese a softer cheese – provolone, pepper jack or swiss. Cheddar doesn’t roll well
• Cucumbers
• Kiwi
• Scallions
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Green Grapes

Other ingredient ideas: berries, edible flowers, nuts, chocolate

How to Assemble a Charcuterie Bouquet

To assemble this charcuterie board, you will first need to make charcuterie flowers with the meat and the cheese. There are several ways to make meat and cheese roses. You can also use a different method to make charcuterie flowers from the kiwi and cucumbers. Once you have your flowers, it only takes a few moments to assemble the rest of the board.

How to Make Charcuterie Flowers

There are two methods for making flowers with the meat and the cheese. You can make a meat rose with this method or for this board I rolled up my meat into flowers.

Start by laying out 5 slices of meat or cheese. If you are working with square cheese, it’s best to cut it into a circle. Fold the row of meat or cheese in half and roll the meat up into a flower shape. Put a tooth pick through the side of the flower to hold everything in place.

Meat is easier to use to make flowers. In order to make a flower with cheese, you will need a flexible cheese that won’t crack. Make sure the cheese is cut thin.

This is a helpful video that shows some different ways to make meat flowers.

To make the flower shapes with the kiwi and cucumbers, you will cut a a series of serrated/diagonal cuts through the middle. Open up the fruit or vegetable and cut off the other end of the kiwi or cucumber so it will stand on end.

It is possible to make a rose similar to the meat and cheese by slicing your cucumbers thinly, but I wanted a few different shapes for this board to add interest.

How to Layout the Charcuterie Bouquet

Once you’ve made your flowers for your board, th assembly is very easy.

Start by laying our your scallions. You can cut them into strips if needed. You will want to use a medium sized charcuterie board for this charcuterie design.

Place your curly kale on top of your scallions. Lay the pieces of kale to form the base of your board.

Begin to place your meat, cheese, and other charcuterie flowers on the kale. Try to spread out the different types of flowers.

Once you have your flowers placed on the board, add green grapes and cherry tomatoes or other ingredients to add color and interest to the bouquet.

Charcuterie Bouquet Recipe