Fruit and Cheese Platter

Submitted by pammyowl

"A variety of fruits and cheeses along with a yummy fruit spread is a great, easy appetizer or dessert!"

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Yields: 1 platter
• Serves: 15

ingredients

• fruit spread
• 9 ounces dried figs, chopped
• 2 1⁄2 ounces hazelnuts, chopped
• 12 ounces apricot preserves
• fruit
• 8 ounces grapes
• 16 ounces strawberries
• 3 pears
• 2 oranges
• 2 peaches
• 7 ounces dried apricots
• 8 ounces brie cheese
• 8 ounces port wine, du salut
• 8 ounces blue cheese
• 1 French baguette
• 64 whole wheat crackers

directions

1. In a small bowl mix spread ingredients. set in the middle of a decorative platter. Arrange the wedge of rouqefort, the wheels of brie and the port du salut on a decorative platter. Surround with the fruits. Serve the pears and peaches whole, the oranges segmented. Leave the tops of the berries on. Have dessert plates for all, and knives, napkins etc. Put the baguette on a bread board. Arrange the cracker on their own plate. Serve with a good dessert wine or Champagne!

Reviews

[twissis]

Made for your Football Pool win, cheese & fruit platters are a European classic for afternoon coffee or evening dessert & mostly designed by personal preferences plus what fruit looks best at the market. While I didn't include your list of ingredients item-by-item, I captured the heart of the recipe. I used Camembert, a Roquefort mix, Brie & a locally made Icelandic cheese called Gull (largest in the pic). For the fruit components, I used grapes, pears, Clementines & homemade rhubarb jam. I'd bought apples too, but DH ate them prior to service of the platters. I included bacon flavored crackers & melba toast. Sml baguette roll slices were ready to go, but failed to make the platters in my haste to serve them at a family gathering. This combo of flavors is always great & the platters were well-received by our guests. Congrats on your FP win & thx for providing the star of our afternoon coffee. :-)

 

[KateL]

Takes me back to French picnics, just need to add Champagne (although Grand Marnier is giving picnic totes with its bottles this summer). Your fig-hazelnut-apricot spread is heavenly, DH ate 1/2 cup in one sitting. I used the best cheeses I could find: Brie, Port du Salut and Roquefort. Once again, quality won over DH: he loved the Roquefort, but had always claimed he hated bleu cheese; he even liked the Brie, and he had also previously expressed distaste for it. In the future I would probably substitute Chevre for the Port du Salut because it was too similar to the Brie, but Port du Salut is a safe choice for picky eaters, so know your audience. The platter in my photo satisfied 2 (hungry) people for lunch. Delightful. Thank you for sharing, pammyowl! Made for The Wild Bunch of ZWT8 during our stop in France.