If you are throwing a party or having a lots of guests over for a get together and want to make party food that’s not just delicious but also show stopping then you will love this Patriotic Charcuterie Board. It’s a cheese board as well as a dessert board all wrapped up into one.
You don’t need to blow your party food budget to make this instagram-worthy board. It takes easy, low-cost items that you can find at just about at your local grocery store. If you believe it takes a bucket of cash to make a delicious charcuterie board then keep on reading. You’re about to find out that you can make a beautiful charcuterie board without using fancy or costly items.
How To Make A Patriotic Charcuterie Board On A Budget
This easy to make flag shaped Patriotic charcuterie board is designed to allow your guests to serve themselves both dessert (berry angle food cake with whipped topping) and appetizers (cheese, pepperoni and crackers).
You get the best of both worlds with this board! Plus it’s so easy to make.
Ingredients needed for this Patriotic Charcuterie Board:
The shopping list for this board is made up of simple charcuterie items.
Angel food cake – I made my own the day before I put this together so it would have time to cool down. If you don’t have the time for any extra baking you can buy a ready made angel food cake from the grocery store.
Blueberries – get fresh fruit and keep refrigerated until you put the board together.
Strawberries – same as the blueberries. Wash them and remove the stems but keep them refrigerated until putting the board together.
Whipped topping – I used Cool Whip for this. You can easily swap it out for your favorite whipped topping.
Sliced pepperoni – tastes great with cheese and crackers plus it’s perfectly colored to be a stripe in the flag. I used regular pepperoni. You can also used turkey pepperoni (they look similar). You can also swap it out for your favorite deli counter meat but it will change how the flag looks.
White cheddar cheese, cut in slices – I bought a 1 pound block of cheese and cut it in half before cutting into slices. You can easily use pre cut sliced cheese if you don’t want the extra work.
You can also swap out the cheddar cheese for another firm white cheese. Pick a light colored cheese so it helps to maintain the colored needed for the stripe of the flag.
Entertainment crackers – I used a package of Entertainment crackers purchased at Walmart (link). It was budget friendly. This was a box of a variety of crackers in different shapes. I set the square and rectangle crackers aside and used the others. You can easily use your favorite type of cracker including Triskets, Wheat thins, Ritz and more.
Red, white and blue sprinkles (optional) – I used a red, white and blue sprinkle mix from Walmart. This is optional but adds to the theme when party goers make their berry angel food cakes.
Equipment needed for this Patriotic Charcuterie Board Recipe:
Here are some helpful tips on equipment you will need for this board.
Star shaped bowls – I purchased these at the Christmas tree shop. You can also find these on star shaped bowls on Amazon (link). No star shaped bowls available? Then swap it out for a round or square small bowls that will fit on your board.
Serving tray – I used a metal serving tray from Walmart. It measures 18.5″ L x 12.2″ W x 3.7″ H Here’s a link to the Better Homes and Gardens tray that you can find at Walmart (link).
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. Which is a great way to save money if you are on a tight budget.
Directions for making this Patriotic Charcuterie Board:
Prepare your tray or charcuterie board by placing a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on the bottom. This will protect the board from any stains and make clean up easier.
Start by placing your star shaped dish where the blue portion of the flag will be. Fill it with the whipped topping.
Being making the strips of the flag by adding a layer of strawberries. Stop placing the layer of strawberries right before the star cup.
Add some blueberries around the top area of the star cup.
Place a layer of cut angel food cake next to the strawberries. Stop right before the star cup.
Add another layer of strawberries. Depending upon the size of your tray and the size of the cup holding the whipped topping you might end up stopping this layer right before the star cup (as shown in the process pictures below) or you may end up being able to continue the layer from one side of the board to the other.
Fill the remaining area around the star cup with blueberries.
Add a layer of cheese slices.
Add a layer of sliced pepperoni.
Add a layer crackers.
Serve the sprinkles on the side. They can be used to top the berry angel food cakes if desired.
How to store this Patriotic Charcuterie Board:
Prepare the board shortly before you set it out. This will keep all the ingredients as fresh as possible. If you are able to store your board in the refrigerator cover it with plastic wrap to keep the cheese and angel food cake from drying out.
If you have extra ingredients that do not fit on the board leave them in the refrigerator until needed to refill the board.
You may want to rethink saving charcuterie board leftovers. Food that has been sitting out, even if sitting on ice, has most likely spent time in the “danger zone”. This is the temperature range in which foods can begin to spoil. When in doubt throw the food out.
I am serving this at a cookout. How can I keep everything from going bad?
Keeping the ingredients cool is the key.
Keep your charcuterie board out of direct sun if possible. To help keep it cool you can easily fill a foil pan, baking sheet, a plastic or metal tub with ice and place your tray on top of it. This will help keep the ingredients fresh longer.
If you aren’t keeping your board cool then you don’t want to leave it out for longer than 2 hours at room temperature. If you leave it out longer than that you run the risk of some of the items beginning to spoil.
Can I use a different type of cheese?
Yes, you can. I used white cheddar cheese as this was making up the white strips of the flag. You can easily use a different type of light-colored hard cheese (Colby, peperjack, etc) that is also light in color.
Should you choose to use soft cheeses to replace the cheddar cheese slices I would suggest trying a roll or two of goat cheese to be used as the white stripe. You will also want to include a cheese knife so your party goers can cut small pieces from the roll.
Check out Trader Joe for some unique cheese options or your local grocery store if they have a cheese section.
I don’t want to use angel food cake. Can I use something else?
If you don’t like or want to use angel food cake another type of cake that works perfectly with this board is a cake made with white cake mix. This is great to be use as the white flag strip in this board. Bake it in a 13 x 9 pan to make cutting it into cubes easily.
Don’t want to be bothered making a cake? You might be able to find a ready made white cake at your local grocery store. If not, you can also swap out the angel food cake for pound cake. It’s not as light in color as a white cake but it works great when making the berry cakes with the other board ingredients (blueberries, strawberries and whipped topping).
I’d like to include some additional appetizer items with this board. What can I include?
There’s really no other items that you can put on the board as this will change the flag shape. However, if you are looking to turn this into a hearty appetizer board you can include other items in small star, round or square bowls placed around the main board. Try some of these items:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Jars of pickles
- Different types of deli meat
- Other types of fresh fruit to eat with the angel food cake and whipped topping such as raspberries and blackberries.
Here are some other charcuterie or dessert boards for your next gathering:
Christmas Tree Dip Dessert Board
Jarcuterie (Appetizers In A Jar)
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Patriotic Charcuterie Board
Equipment
- Large Serving Tray
- Star shaped bowl
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
- 1 Angel food cake
- 16 ounces blueberries
- 2 pounds strawberries
- 8 ounces whipped topping
- 16 ounces pepperoni sliced
- 16 ounces white cheddar sliced
- 13 ounces Entertainment Crackers
- red, white and blue sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Prep your ingredients before setting up the board. Wash the fruit. Remove the leaves and stems on the strawberries. If desired cut the tops off. If using a block of cheese cut it into slices about ¼ inch thick. Cut the angel food cake into small cubes (use a serrated knife to make it easier to cut).
- Prepare your tray or charcuterie board by placing a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on the bottom. This will protect the board from any stains and make clean up easier.
- Start by placing your starshaped dish where the blue portion of the flag will be. Fill it with the whipped topping.
- Being making the strips of the flag by adding a layer of strawberries. Stop placing the layer of strawberries right before the star cup.
- Add some blueberries around the top area of the star cup.
- Place a layer of cut angel food cake next to the strawberries. Stop right before the star cup.
- Add another layer of strawberries. Depending upon the size of your tray and the size of the cup holding the whipped topping you might end up stopping this layer right before the star cup (as shown in the process pictures) or you may end up being able to continue the layer from one side of the board to the other.
- Fill the remaining area around the star cup with blueberries.
- Add a layer of sliced cheese.
- Add a layer of sliced pepperoni.
- Add a layer crackers.
Notes
Nutrition
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.
It’s such as easy charcuterie board that you can quickly put it together for your party without a huge time investment.
Other recipes you may enjoy:
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