Get ready to feed your family and friends at your next holiday gathering with this Christmas Tree Cake Dip Dessert Charcuterie Board. The dip is so easy to make and you can quickly put this dessert board together in 30 minutes.
Dessert charcuterie boards are a quick way to feed a crowd. There’s usually something that everyone will enjoy on the board including cookies, crackers, salty pretzels and even fresh fruit. This board is so simple to make. If you’ve never made a dessert board before check out the tips below to help you put this one together quickly.
Christmas Tree Cake Dip Dessert Board
What is a Charcuterie Board?
Charcuterie boards (pronounced “shar-KOO-tuh-ree”) are trays, cutting boards or platters filled with different snacking items such as sliced meat, sausage, cheese, fruit, vegetable sticks, oils, nuts and dipping sauces. “Charcuterie” is a French term for displaying a variety of cured meats.
These days you can find charcuterie boards filled with just about any food item you can imaging. Now it’s not just savory food items found on a charcuterie board. You can find recipes for just about any type of dessert board you can imagine!
To create this simple Christmas dessert board begin by making the Christmas Tree Dip. You will want to include this dip with a selection of dippers. See below for more information about this.
This dip takes about 10 minutes to make and can be prepared ahead of time. Follow the directions to make the dip up to the step where the sprinkles are added. The dip can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated until you are ready to serve your dessert charcuterie board.
When you are ready to put this board together place the dip in a serving bowl, add the colored sprinkles and top with a Little Debbie Christmas tree cake.
What are Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes?
This delicious dip is made with Little Debbie Christmas Tree snack cakes. Each year, around the holidays, these delightfully sweet snack cakes start appearing in local stores. The inside of the cake is made with layers of spongy yellow cake and a creamy vanilla frosting. The cake is coated with a vanilla icing. Each one is topped with red garland stripes and are sprinkled with coarse green sugar crystals.
The sweet vanilla flavor of these snack cakes is what gives this dip its flavor.
What kind of dippers do I serve with Christmas Tree Dip?
You can use a wide variety of dippers to scoop up this delicious dip. Here are some of the dippers that go well with the flavor of this dip:
- Fresh Strawberries
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Milano Cookies
- Butter Cookies
- Graham Crackers
- Strawberry Wafer Sticks
- Vanilla Wafer Cookies
- Pretzels
You will also want a selection of holiday candies to fill in the gaps between the cookies and other dippers on your dessert board. I used different wrapped Hershey’s Kisses but you can use your favorite types of candies.
Depending upon your board size you can also use large sized holiday cookies to decorate the board and fill in the gaps such as frosted gingerbread men and frosted sugar cookies.
How to make this Christmas Tree Dessert Board:
To begin making this dessert board begin by placing the container of Christmas tree dip on the board. Where you place it will depend upon the shape of the board you are using. I went with the center so all the dippers could be placed around it.
If you are using other small bowls or containers to hold any of the dippers place those on the board as well. I decided to place the strawberries in a container as it was easier to keep them together. It is easier to make the board looked balanced when you have an odd number of containers so I placed the strawberry wafer sticks into a glass.
The next step is to add in your dippers.
You’ll want to arrange the dippers into piles or stacks to fill the spaces between the containers. How you will place them will upon the shape of your board. Avoid putting similar colored items or textures together.
You can also try adding in Teddy Grahams, Animal Crackers, Sugar Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, mini brownies and other types of fresh fruit.
Since most of the dippers are cookies they are often a similar color. To help break the colors up, as well as fill any white space on the board, I used foil wrapped Hershey’s Kisses between the different cookies.
Add in your favorite types of wrapped and even unwrapped candy on your board. Some other options to use on your board as a filler include marshmallows or chocolate covered marshmallows, mini candy bars as well as other shapes of foiled wrapped chocolate. During the holidays there are often shapes such as bells, balls, squares and even stars.
I don’t have a board or platter. What can I use?
I used a metal serving tray from Walmart to make this board. It measures 18.5″ long x 12.2″ wide x 3.7″ high. Here’s a link to the Better Homes and Gardens tray that you can find at Walmart (link).
No board or platter available? No worries. You can easily use a baking sheet (or two) in place of a platter. If your baking sheet has an raised edge that will help keep everything on the board. Is your baking sheet discolored from use? You can line the baking sheet with aluminum foil if desired to hide any discoloration.
Don’t have a tray with an edge? You can also use a wooden board, cutting boards or even a baking sheet in place of the tray.
Baking sheets are a simple charcuterie board that have an edge which helps keep the different items in place. Its an inexpensive charcuterie board swap as most people have baking pans in their homes. This is a great way to save money if you are on a tight budget.
How much should I plan per person?
The Christmas tree dip recipe will make a good amount of dip. Between the dip and dippers there is enough to easily feed 12 or more people if this is your only dessert being served. If you are serving other items at your gathering this will easily feed 20+ people as a snack.
Plan to make the dip and provide 4 to 6 types of dippers to feed everyone at your party or gathering. When purchasing packages of cookies and pretzels you’ll find there’s always more dippers than what can be put on the board when it’s first served. This means you’ll have back up to refill the board as your guests enjoy it. Use at least 1 pound of strawberries for every 8 to 10 people.
Try dividing the dip up between two serving bowls. Place one on the platter and keep the other in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap. When your guests finish off the dip in the one bowl you can quickly swap it out with the second bowl and top off the dippers.
The great thing about this board is even if you run out of dip everyone will still keep snacking on the cookies and other dippers. If this happens just remove the dip bowl and fill in the area with a bowl of pretzels or cookies.
Other charcuterie boards you might like:
Charcuterie boards are a popular entertaining trend right now and for a good reason. They are a fun way to serve food at parties. If you plan your board you don’t have to spend a lot of money on these simple ingredients.
You can easily whip up a snack board, themed dessert boards or even meal board for just about any occasion. Here are some other charcuterie boards ideas that you might like:
Jarcuterie (Appetizers in a Jar or Cup)
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Christmas Tree Cake Dip Dessert Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- platter
Ingredients
- 5 Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese
- 16 ounces whipped topping
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Holiday Colored Sprinkles
- 6 ounces Vanilla Wafer Cookies
- 6 ounces Strawberry Wafer Cookies
- 6 ounces Graham crackers about 2 packs
- 5 ounces Gingerbread Cookies
- 8 ounces Pretzels mini
- 6 ounces Butter Cookies
- 6 ounces Milano Cookies
- 16 ounces strawberries
- 5 ounces Hershey's Kisses
Instructions
- Follow the directions on the Christmas Tree Dip Recipe to make the dip. Place it in a serving bowl.
- Place the bowl of dip and any other containers on your platter.
- Add the cookies, pretzels and any other dippers you may be using around the bowl and containers.
- Fill in the gaps with candy.
Notes
Nutrition
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