How I Build a Holiday Cheese Board + Quick Spiced Apricot Preserves!

This is exactly how to build a holiday cheeseboard complete with a variety of cheeses, breads, crackers, nuts, fruit preserves, and mustards! This quick spiced apricot preserve recipe is easy to make ahead to add to the board, or to use as a hostess gift!

There’s nothing like a huge cheeseboard with tonnnns of amazing stuff loaded on it..am I right?! I’m pretty sure I could have this for dinner nearly every night and be the happiest girl ever. During the holidays (and any time really), a cheese board/plate is always my go-to for entertaining. Or, for those nights where I really don’t feel like cooking. Add some wine to the equation, and we have the makings of the best kind of night.

I wanted to share with you my favorite components to a wintery/holiday-esque version, as well as a delicious spiced apricot preserves recipe to serve with your cheeses!

I didn’t grow up loving cheese. Call me crazy, I just never had much of a taste for it. Unless it came in the form of boxed macaroni and cheese or grilled cheese..then I was all in. Or, those cheese stuffed chicken nuggets..remember those?!?

As I’ve gotten older, my tastes have definitely changed. It probably wasn’t until high school that I was able to eat a plain cube of cheese by itself. Crazy, right?!

Things have obviously changed.

These apricot preserves were inspired by a cheese plate I had while visiting my brother in Los Angeles. The preserves were spiced just perfectly and I knew I had to re-create it at home!

I added a cinnamon stick, whole cloves, whole allspice, and a little honey to a jar of apricot preserves, and heated the mixture so the flavors got infused. And that’s it! Let it cool, remove the spices, and serve!

I love doing a mix of cheeses, like hard, soft, semi-soft, and a few random ones depending on the crowd. Here, I added some cranberry crusted goat cheese and a spreadable herb cheese that my family loves.

Tons of different crackers, spiced nuts, mustards, jams, preserves, and pickled veggies are always a must. I had such a hard time not wanting to add more and more to this board!

I want to live in this picture.

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How to Build a Holiday Cheeseboard + Quick Spiced Apricot Preserves!

This is exactly how to build a holiday cheeseboard complete with a variety of cheeses, breads, crackers, nuts, fruit preserves, and mustards! This quick spiced apricot preserve recipe is easy to make ahead to add to the board, or to use as a hostess gift!

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 20 minutes

Author Molly | Spices in My DNA

Ingredients

For the cheeseboard

• cheddar cheese (I like a sharp or aged version)
• manchego cheese (always a must!)
• syrah soaked Toscano cheese/Sartori cheese
• triple cream Brie
• spreadable herb cheese
• cranberry crusted goat cheese
• hard salami or cured meats
• multigrain baguette
• hard breadsticks
• flatbread crackers (I used a rosemary sea salt version)
• pita chips
• pistachio pomegranate crisps (I found these at Trader Joe's)
• candied pecans or walnuts
• rosemary sea salt roasted marcona almonds
• dried cranberries
• grapes
• caper berries
• olives
• peppadew peppers
• gherkins or pickles
• grainy mustard or other gourmet mustards
• sour cherry preserves
• fig jam

For the spiced apricot preserves

• 10 ounce jar of apricot preserves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon whole allspice
• 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

1. To make the preserves, heat a saucepan over medium heat and add the apricot preserves, cinnamon stick, cloves, allspice, and honey. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently or until mixture has reduced a bit in volume.

2. Whole still hot, remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, and allspice, and discard. I left a few of mine in there. Let cool and serve with your cheeses!

3. To assemble the cheeseboard, arrange everything on a platter. I usually like to place different cheeses closer together, and kind of scatter everything throughout, but it's totally up to you. Have fun with it!