FOOD FUN: Easter Egg Cheese Plate

We can always rely on DiBruno Bros. in Philadelphia for the best specialty foods—and creative ways to use them.

For Easter, they’ve used Easter egg cookie cutters (photo #2) to create an Easter cheese plate (photo #1).

The semi-hard cheese group includes young Asiago, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Fontinella, Gouda, Manchego, Provolone (photo #1) and Queso Blanco, among others.

Semi-hard cheese is a classification of cheese based upon body. The terms semi-hard and hard refer mainly to moisture content, not to texture.

Because these cheeses contain less moisture than the soft and soft-ripened types, they hold their shape much better—good to cut with cookie cutters.

A cheese can start as semi-soft, then move to semi-hard via aging, which evaporates the moisture.
 
 
HOW TO MAKE CHEESE EASTER EGGS

1. PICK your cheeses. While DiBruno Bros. used only provolone, try at least two different colors: provolone and cheddar, for example.

2. PICK your toppings. You can use anything you have around, but here are some ideas. Use as much color as you can; e.g., green pimento olives instead of black olives, and sultanas (golden raisins) instead of dark purple raisins.

 
Plus:

 
You can also add colorful fruit to the plate: berries, dried apricots, orange/mandarin segments, red grapes, etc.

3. CUT and decorate the cheese shapes.

4. SERVE as a first course, with a salad course, or after the main course, before dessert.

[1] Easter egg cheese plate, created by DiBruno Bros from provolone (photo © DiBruno Bros).

[2] Easter egg cookie cutter set on Amazon (photo © Ann Clark Cookie Cutters).

[3] The easy cheese platter: Surround rounds and wedges of cheese with Easter candy (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

Put your favorite cheeses on a board and surround them with Easter candy (photo #3). This works best when cheese is served after the main course.

Bite-size, foil-wrapped Easter eggs are best because chocolate is a good pairing with cheese.
 
 
> CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHEESE IN OUR CHEESE GLOSSARY <