Gorgeous Mother’s Day Platter

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If you have ever flown with Virgin or Qantas, you’ve probably enjoyed a Charlie’s Fine Food Co’s snack. They are an Aussie and family-owned business that focuses on developing delicious and convenient foods using premium ingredients. Charlie’s now has a select range of products available at Coles and Woolies, so you can enjoy them anytime. 

I was familiar with Charlie’s brand, but I didn’t realise the extent of their range. They have a wide variety of products available that are fabulous for snacks, gift hampers, lunchboxes and platters. Among the extensive range, Charlie’s have mini melting moments, gourmet cookies, mini cheese bites, and have recently released plant-based edible cookie dough in tubs so you can bake and enjoy your own works of art (or eat it straight from the tub).

I really like the mini biscuit range, because I always want a taste of everything – ha! The mini size also works so well on platters. With Mother’s Day coming up, I’ve put together a gorgeous platter concept centered around the , Mini Cheese Bites. I’ll warn you though, they are moorish. Look how gorgeous they look on a platter! The first pic is the three cheese flavour, and the second is classic Italian (my personal favourite). 

The Mini Cheese Bites come in three flavours: Classic Italian, Three Cheese and Cheddar and Rosemary. Made with 20% Australian Cheese, they are just as yummy as a standalone snack too (I use them inlunchboxes).

For this platter, I also used the mini melting moments. ADORABLE! They are available on Charlie’s website (sadly not yet in supermarkets).

A cheese platter can be super simple, just with a couple of cheeses, Mini Cheese Bites, and something sweet like honeycomb or fruit. However, if you want a platter with a bit more wow factor for  special occasions, I typically put it together with additional elements. 

I start with the main items (i.e. cheese) and then the accompaniments (crackers/cheese bites), and then I thinkabout small goods, sweets and filler products (to fill the gaps at the end). I’ve included a printable version below in case you want to hint to your children or partners about the sort of products you like.

They can then check-off the boxes of the items you like and I’ve included a suggested amount of items to pick from each section. This amount will typically feed about six people, so adjust amounts according to how many people to serve.

When assembling the board, I find it easy to do it in steps. 

1. Place cheese in different areas on the board.
2. Put the Mini Cheese Bites and crackers near the cheese.
3. Next, arrange the secondary items like fruit, smallgoods and sweets around the board.
4. Lastly, use the filler foods to fill up all the spaces. I like blueberries and raspberries the best, but nuts and Maltesers work well too. 

Personally, I prefer a platter without smallgoods, but salami flowers look fabulous. To make salami flowers, just cut three salami slices in half (to make six pieces) and then starting with the first piece, wind tightly, and add layers around to make a flower (ensuring the cut/flat part of the salami is at the base and the curved part makes the top of the flower). 

Sometimes the hardest part of putting a platter together is where to arrange things, so I’ve included suggestions below, the first without smallgoods, the second with smallgoods. I put Charlie’s Mini Cheese Bites in little silicone cupcake cases, but you can put them straight on the board or use a little bowl. 

Mother’s Day is only a few weeks away now, so head to Charlie’s Fine Food Co and check out the products that are available and plan a beautiful board to share with the ones you love the most. 

You can use the code “BeAFunMum20” for 20% discount and free shipping on all orders over $70 — visit the website.

A few more ideas

DIY Mother’s Day Gift Hamper 

If you’re looking for a gift idea, put together a simple gift pack. The packaging is beautiful, so it makes for a wonderful gift. Here are a few examples:

• A box of Charlie’s Fine Food Co’s Melting Moments, tea bags and a beautiful teacup. 
• Glass tea infuser bottle, loose leaf tea, and a variety of Charlie’s Fine Food Co’s Individually Wrapped Biscuits. 

Lunchbox snack

The mini bites range works beautifully as a lunchbox food. Here are a few lunchboxes I have recently made.

• Charlie’s Fine Food Co Mini Cheese Bites, strawberries, blueberries, banana muffins, carrot sticks, mini salami wraps
• Charlie’s Fine Food Co Mini Melting Moments, pizza balls and dipping sauce, cheese, celery and carrot sticks, apple (with a drizzle of lemon juice to keep it from browning)