Viral Cheese Canvas Easel for Brunch, Showers and Garden Parties
An apple-shaped board painted in layers of tinted cream cheese, with a radish tulip garden and tiny salami mushrooms tucked into the bottom layer. It looks like edible art, but it comes together with a spoon, a paring knife, and about twenty minutes of hands-on time.
Servings: 4
Calories: 250kcal
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened 225g
- 3 tbsp shredded cheddar 20g
- 1 tbsp grated Parmesan 5g
- 1 large round slice salami
- 1 gherkin
- 2 medium radishes
- 3 dried butterfly pea flowers or a few drops blue food coloring
- Turmeric or yellow food coloring for the radishes
- 2 tbsp dried onion 10g
- Small handful fresh dill
For serving:
- crackers and sliced baguette
Instructions
- Halve one radish and carve the edges into tulip shapes. Slice the second radish and cut into flower shapes with a small cutter, coloring some with turmeric or yellow food coloring.
- Halve the gherkin lengthwise for the mushroom stems. Cut two rounds from the salami slice for the caps.
- Steep the butterfly pea flowers in 2 tbsp (30ml) just-boiled water, strain, and mix into a third of the cream cheese for the blue layer.
- Mix the shredded cheddar into another third of the cream cheese for the bottom layer.
- Spread the blue cream cheese across the top third of the board, the plain cream cheese across the middle third (top with Parmesan), and the cheddar mixture across the bottom third (top with dried onion).
- Press the radish tulips, flower cutouts, and salami mushrooms into the bottom layer. Tuck dill around them.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.
Notes
- The blue often settles into a periwinkle or lavender shade once mixed into the cream cheese. This is expected, not a sign anything went wrong.
- The board can be built up to a day ahead and kept chilled. Once served, treat it like any cream cheese spread and don't leave it out longer than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hot).
- For a vegetarian version, swap the salami mushrooms for cherry tomato halves.