I like to work my Halloween inspired food ideas around themes. It gives me guardrails to make sure my menu all works together. For instance, I took classic Carnival food, like funnel cakes, hotdogs, ice cream and turned it into fun creepy carnival fare for my Carn’evil’ theme. Then I transformed barbeque favorites, like watermelon, corn on the cob, and coleslaw into body parts for my Dead Man’s BBQ theme. So I’m really excited to start on my next theme where I’ll create a menu that pulls from all things witchy and wonderful, like bubbling cauldrons, crystals, sage, moon phases, natural elements, tarot cards, magic and candles. Speaking of candles, this beautiful cheese board was inspired by candle rituals. It seemed like a good place to start to set the tone and the mood of the types of food I’ll be creating for this magical theme. So come on in…sit for a spell and have some delicious fun with candles that are completely edible…like magic!
Candle Magic Cheese Platter
Ingredients
Brie Candle
- 3 wheels brie
- 3 slices mozzarella wraps
- 2 tbsp. cream cheese
Feta Garlic Candle
- 8 oz. block feta cheese, crumbled
- 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 clove garlic, grated
- 2 slices mozzarella wraps
White Cheddar Onion Candle
- 2 cups white cheddar, grated
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. white pepper
- 2 slices mozzarella wraps
Instructions
Brie Candle
- Cut the rind off the top and bottom of each wheel of brie. Cut a 1½-inch hole through one of the wheels of brie with a cookie cutter to make the space for your tealight. Stack the wheels securing with toothpicks. Coat outside of Brie candle with a light coat of cream cheese as glue to hold the mozzarella wrappers.
- Cut one end of the wrapper to create a straight edge. Lay brie candle along straight edge of mozzarella slice and roll up. (You can also cut the mozzarella at the top if you want. I left it uncut so I would have a little room to adjust it if it rolled uneven, but feel free to cut both the top and bottom at this point.) Add a second slice, overlapping the rounded sides. Use a knife to cut through the overlapping slices to create a seam. Remove sliced pieces and then press together a perfect seam, pressing it into the cream cheese glue. Repeat with the third slice until brie is covered. Use a sharp knife to trim the top of the mozzarella cheese and press into cream cheese. Add more as needed to get a good seal.
Feta Garlic Candle/White Cheddar Candle
- Mix feta, garlic and cream cheese in a food processor and blend until smooth. Pour out on to a parchment lined cookie sheet flatten out to about ½-inch thickness and chill for 1 hour. Clean out food processor and repeat with White Cheddar ingredients. Chill for 1 hourCut out 2½-inch circles of cheese mixture using a cookie cutter and stack. Use scraps to cut out additional circles. For the last two circles, use a 1½-inch cookie cutter to cut out the center to make room for your tealight. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill to firm up a bit before wrapping.
- Cut one end of the wrapper to create a straight edge. Lay cheese candle along the straight edge of mozzarella slice and roll up. Add a second slice, overlapping the rounded sides. Use a knife to cut through the overlapping slices to create a seam. Remove sliced pieces and then press together a perfect seam, pressing it into the cream cheese glue. Use a sharp knife to trim the top of the mozzarella cheese and press into cream cheese. Add more cream cheese as needed to get a good seal. Wrap and chill until ready to serve.
- Add tealights and arrange on a platter and serve with assorted blackberries, grapes, blueberries and figs. Serve with baguettes or crackers. Enjoy!
