My mom loves gifts with a sentimental flair. She’s all about presents that take a little extra effort, especially on Mother’s Day. Since all of us at TG & Co. are a little too old to give our moms handprint flower paintings (although it is the thought that counts, right?), we devised a gift idea that’s more grown-up, completely mom-friendly and delicious, too.
Behold: the Mother’s Day charcuterie board.
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We used fruit to spell out the word “mom” in big cursive letters. And, because you can’t have a fruit-only charcuterie board — I mean, I guess you could, but we love our dairy and carbs — we framed it with cheese, bread and sweets, because happy stomachs equal happy moms (seriously, being “hangry” is real).
We sourced almost all of the ingredients from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. To recreate it, we suggest you pick up the following items:
- Brown and pink macaroons (we hand-painted them with flowers for some extra spring flair)
- Heart-shaped palmiers
- Chocolate-covered almonds
- Triple crème brie
- Goat’s milk cheddar cheese
- Mozzarella balls
- Macadamia nuts
- Mini toasts
- Sliced French baguette
- Meringue cookies
- Prosciutto
- Alter Eco dark chocolate coconut clusters
- Dried coconut strips
- Plum spread
- Pepper jam
- Blueberries, raspberries and strawberries
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Use the blueberries, raspberries and strawberries to spell out “mom” in whatever font you’d like. We found that raspberries worked best to define the letters. Smaller strawberries were also better than large, because the larger the strawberries, the bulkier your letters will become. To take up more room — because there aren’t always enough berries to go around — use pink spray roses, greenery and heart-shaped pink sprinkles to fill in gaps.
In order to get the shape of the letters just right, we used a projector to project the “mom” onto our surface. If you don’t have a projector, fear not. You can also easily create the word freehand. Start by writing out “mom” in fruit, then add your loops and swirls once you have completed the base letters. You can even try tracing the word out with a pencil and covering it with fruit.
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Now pile on the cheese, bread and sweet treats as your border. You have freedom here to have fun, get creative and decorate your charcuterie board any way you think looks good.
Finally, decorate the edge with flowers. We used pink daisies and white spray roses.
This board will feed upward of 10 people for an appetizer. The sad part is it won’t last long once your party starts. Make sure to at least get a picture with your mom before the family digs in.
Share your Mother’s Day charcuterie boards with us by tagging @HomeOfTheHolidays or #Holidays365.