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A cheeseboard is the piece de resistance when it comes to Holiday entertaining. Learn how to make the ultimate vegan cheese board that your guests will love with this easy recipe!

How to Make the Ultimate Vegan Cheese Board

cheeses

savoury tapenade, pâté

sweet jam

bread

pack savoury crackers

something salty tomatoes or artichokes

fruit fruits

mixed nuts (walnuts, toasted almonds and pecans work really well)

herbs

Start by spreading your cheeses and spreads/preserves out on the platter/board. Ideally they should be in different areas of the board to balance it visually. If you have wheels of cheese, cut a wedge or two out of them for decoration.

Cut small slices or chunks from your bread and fan them out with the remaining loaf around the cheeses and spreads/preserves.

Fan the crackers out around the cheeses and spreads in the same way.

If using vegan meats, cut slices of them and fan them out near the crackers.

Place groups of your tangy foods (olives, artichokes etc.) around the board close to the cheeses. Alternatively just place them on the board in their jars.

If using fruits like apples or pears, slice them thinly. If using figs or apricots, slice in half. Create clusters of the different fruits/berries you&#x27;re using and place throughout the cheese board.

Finally, add small clusters of nuts to fill out any bare spaces on the board.

If using, add a couple of sprigs of herbs and colourful veggies to decorate the board.

Place a clean knife next to each cheese, and a small fork/spoon in each jar, and enjoy!

This recipe for basic butter cookies is so versatile. It can be scooped, rolled, sliced, pressed, or cut out with cookie cutters!

Basic Butter Cookies

unsalted butter (room temperature)

sugar

salt

vanilla extract

egg yolk (room temperature)

all-purpose flour

turbinado sugar

Beat the butter, sugar, together until creamy.

Mix in the salt and vanilla followed by the egg yolk. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the flour and mix just until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disk. Wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours, until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment.

Between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll 1 piece of dough to 1/8-inch thickness. With floured 2 to 3-inch cookie cutters, cut the dough into as many cookies as possible. Wrap and refrigerate the leftover trimmings.

Place the cookies 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with turbinado sugar or colored sugar. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.

Cool on the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

I’m an experienced baker and these butter cookies with such a simple recipe yield amazing results! They are loaded with buttery flavor and have a light crisp on the outside but are tender on the inside. I used the dough for cut outs on St Patricks Day and the office manager said they were the best cookies he’s ever had and wanted the recipe for his wife. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for creating this gem!!

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/t_original/v1576772155/nfp9fpb1pwjptg2muif4.mp4

A uniquely delicious and festive cranberry sauce made with red wine and simple mulling spices for your holiday tables and the leftover sandwiches to come!

Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce

cranberries

red wine

cinnamon

star anise

Rinse the cranberries and put them into your 2 quart microwave safe bowl. Add the sugar and wine and stir to combine.

Break the cinnamon stick in half. If it&#39;s very thick you may want to use a chef&#39;s knife. Add it and the star anise to the bowl.

Cover loosely with a plastic microwave cover or paper towel and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir.

Microwave for a final 3 minutes. Be sure to keep a loose cover on your bowl as the cranberries will foam up as they boil.

Stir again and let the bowl cool at room temperature. Then refrigerate until cold, or overnight. Your mulled wine cranberry sauce can be made up to 4 days in advance. Pull out the whole spices before serving.

The cranberry sauce will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator.

How do I keep from having the skins SO TUFF that one must spit out the skins while eating this?

My Hubbies Mother's Cranberry Relish also was uncooked but contained raw cranberry's, mandarin or tangerines, and orange marmalade which we make every year for good friends

My modern fruitcake is a lightened up classic Christmas cake that won&#039;t weigh you down, and will never get re-gifted, guaranteed!

Modern Fruitcake

fruit

brandy

Amaretto

butter

tsp baking powder

tsp orange oil, orange extract,

eggs

all purpose flour

orange juice

pecans and walnuts

cherries

fruit,

confectioner's sugar, sifted

Preheat oven to 325F and butter and flour a 10-12 cup bundt pan. Be sure to get all the nooks and crannies so your cake will release well.

Put the dried fruits in a microwave safe bowl and stir in the brandy and Amaretto.  Microwave for 90 seconds and stir again.  Let cool on the counter while you continue with the cake.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the baking powder, salt, and orange oil or extract of your choice.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, letting each one get incorporated before adding the next.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Blend in the flour and orange juice alternately, beginning and ending with flour.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is fully blended.

Fold in the soaked fruit (don&#x27;t drain) the candied fruits, and nuts.

Spoon the batter into your pan and smooth out the surface.  Bake for about 70-90 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without wet batter on it.  If the surface seems to be browning too quickly, loosely lay a piece of foil over the top toward the end of the baking time.

Let the cake cool for 15 minutes, then invert onto a plate.  Whisk the syrup ingredients together and brush it over the entire surface of the warm cake.  Let cool completely and then wrap well in plastic and set aside for 24 hours at room temperature.

Mix the confectioner&#x27;s sugar with just enough half and half or milk to make a thick glaze.  Start with 3 tablespoons, stir well, and go from there.  Add just a little at a time and stir well. I like to let the glaze sit for a few minutes to allow any lumps to dissolve.  Spoon the glaze over the surface of the cake, and then let harden before slicing.

make the icing

Sunday mornings are my favorite time to bake and cook.   Fortunately, I stumbled upon your Modern Fruitcake recipe earlier in the week and I made certain to have all ingredients on hand.    This cake is amazing.  I soaked figs, cherries, dates, cranberries, golden raisins and pineapple in rum, added chopped pecans and crossed my fingers.   It has to be the best cake I've ever made.    Thank you for sharing your recipe.   I'm now reading your bean recipes for New Year's Day.   I'm so happy to see your recipes appear in my inbox!    Thank you!

I've baked so many fruitcake recipes over the years... and THIS IS THE ONE I'LL BAKE AGAIN and AGAIN ! The taste and texture is simply amazing! My Bible study folks RAVED, even the ones that had sworn off fruitcake! I used Amaretto and Sherry . Like you, I didn't have one thing or another - and used what I had (like marachino cherries , drained, because I couldn't find glace this close to Christmas). Bought dried fruits I liked, left out golden raisins after the family complained over Mary Berry's almost-all-raisin-cake of a couple years ago. BRAVO !   Standing Ovation! (and THANK YOU !!!!!)  And fyi - I used the NordicWare 75th Anniversary bundt pan

Clarification: if using a loaf pan, how many loaves does this recipe make? The recipe sounds amazing. I'm a lifelong lover of fruit cake - even those heavy doorstop types!!

This is very similar to our family "White Fruitcake" a 4 generation recipe. We use 2oz of lemon extract, glacé cherries &amp; pineapple and dried fruits, usually dates, currents, golden raisins, dried cranberries, but use what your family likes. Chopped pecans because it's a southern cake, dredge the fruits and pecans in 1/4 cup of flour before adding to the  six eggs, 4 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, 3/4 lb. butter; with Baptist roots no alcohol soak. Bake at 275° for 2 hours. Place a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven to keep cake  moist. Traditionally we make this cake on the weekend after Thanksgiving. This recipe makes about 5 lbs of fruitcake.

I made this last year and it was the #1 request from the family this year. It's the ratio of dried fruit to candied fruit that makes it better than others--and even then, I used all candied cherries, none of the mixed. The rest is perfect as is and just the right amount of booze. Nicely done, Sue!

This recipe was absolutely Epic!  Even my non-fruit cake lovers became fans!  All of your recipes that I have made have been perfect!  Thank you!!!!

This fruit cake is absolutely delicious! I used apricots and craisins for my dried fruit as I could not find golden raisins or dates. Instead of booze, I used hot water to soak my fruit and added rum flavoring. I baked it in two loaf pans instead of a bundt pan. If you use loaf pans, I recommend lining them with parchment paper to make it easier to get out of the pans and peel the paper off the ends and bottom before leaving to cool. I love that it can be sliced very thin without falling apart. This one will go into my saved recipes for certain! Thank you for a great recipe.

I made this cake and followed recipe exactly and it's AMAZING! Wonderful flavours with the boozy raisons and all the orange juice.  The icing just finishes it off WOW.  and this recipe is perfect.

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Basic Butter Cookies

Mulled Wine Cranberry Sauce

Modern Fruitcake

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