Summer Cheese Board

Build your own summer cheese board with soft and firm cheeses, seasonal summer berries and cherries, and heavenly dark chocolate to entertain your guests all summer long! (Jump to Recipe)

Cheese boards are the perfect appetizer for any occasion or any season! They’re a fun and delicious addition for summer backyard get togethers, holidays, birthdays, movie nights, etc.

There’s really no wrong way to pile it on. Variety is key and you’ll need two hands for this one.

Cheeses

For the cheese selection, include a variety ranging from soft to firm in texture, and from mild and sweet to sharp in flavor. The list of cheeses you can use for these cheese boards are endless!

Soft cheeses – A few favorite of mine are brie and goat cheese. They are soft enough to be spreadable. Sometimes I’ll pick up honey-infused goat cheese or goat cheese that’s rolled in herbs.

Hard cheeses – Parmigiano-Reggiano, Romano, Gruyère, cheddar, Manchego, Gouda to name a few hard cheeses. For this summer cheese board, I went with Manchego. This cheese is know to be from Spain from the La Mancha region. When we were in Barcelona, we ate this cheese with prosciutto on a daily basis. It has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery texture. Most of the time it will have a few small air pockets.

Medium-soft cheeses – Fontina, Port Salut, Muenster, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and Brick are a few popular ones. I chose a young Brick cheese which is sweet and mild in flavor. It has the shape of a brick and can range from pale yellow to white in color. When matured, it has a strong ripe flavor. Gorgonzola (blue cheese) or Stilton is another excellent choice if you prefer a crumbly texture.

Fruit

Stone fruit, such as peaches, nectarines, plums, and apricots look beautifully sliced and assembled in multiples of clusters. Cherries do not need to be sliced but can also be assembled in a cluster. Berries are the jewels of summer, include whole or sliced strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries. Don’t forget dried fruit, it works well in the winter time when the summer produce isn’t available.

Chocolate

Chocolate is a must!

Milk or dark, with nuts or without. You can’t go wrong. Quality is key.

Ritter Sport has an endless selection of fine, chocolate according to what your liking. They have nutty, creamy, fruity, crispy, or simply milk and dark. The best part is that it’s 100% sustainably sourced cacao.

I am a lover of all things dark chocolate, so I picked up the Ritter Sport 74% Intense Dark Chocolate. It’s one of their dark chocolate bars that falls in between their smooth and their strong dark chocolates.

Whichever Ritter Sport chocolate bar you pick up from Raley’s, it will only compliment your summer cheese board.

Nuts And Crackers

Pistachios (shelled or not), walnuts, almonds, cashews, they’re all great. Use just one type of nut or different types. Cluster them together like you would with the berries.

For the crackers, I assembled this board with my favorite fig and olive crackers. They deliver a rustic feel and have a sweet and savory taste to them. Pita crackers are another favorite of mine when I’m just looking for something slightly salty but still something with texture. Most specialty crackers can be found in the deli department.

Disclosure: This post is a sponsored post on behalf of Ritter Sport and Raley’s.