Cheese and raw honeycomb platter
Got people coming over for drinkies? Looking for a quick and easy nibble that requires no actual cooking but is a delight of flavours? Need a very impressive dessert platter that will leave them gob-smacked?
Cheese and honey are a naturally delicious combination and one of the easiest things you can pull together when you’re entertaining. A drizzle of sweet honey is the perfect contrast to the saltiness of a cheese.
It can’t bee bettered
One of the best ways to serve honey and cheese is a raw honeycomb platter. One of my favourite combinations of flavours and textures is honeycomb, cheeses, nuts, a nice chewy baguette, and fresh pears.
I like to serve three different kinds of cheese. If pears aren’t available, tart green apples, such as Grannysmiths, are also a winner. And berries just look stunning.
Some types of cheese are just a little better with honey than others.
The best cheese for raw honey
Honeys go really well with aged, nutty cheeses like a Parmigiano-Reggiano, a tangy cheddar, or my favourite, gruyère.
Our clover honey or pohutukawa honey also works beautifully with fresh creamy cheeses like ricotta, goat cheese, or feta.
Blue cheeses are another good choice; the mellow sweetness of the honey cuts the saltiness really well.
Getting it together
So start with the raw honeycomb. It is visually stunning and guests can simply cut off pieces of honeycomb to eat with the cheese. The easiest way to get the honeycomb out of the container is to put a knife into the honeycomb, twist the honeycomb box like an ice tray, and then it will pop right out. Flip it right side up, so the dry side is up. Remove a portion of the honeycomb to the platter and surround it with your goodies.
Let the cheese sit out for a bit before serving. I often go for a nutty gruyere, a blue cheese, and goat feta. Place cheese knives for each of the cheeses and one for the honeycomb. A sharp knife will allow guests to slice the pears and apples as they like, or you can slice them ahead of time and dunk them in lemon laced water to prevent browning. You can then fan your apples or pears out on the board.
Sprinkle around almonds, chopped pecans or chopped walnuts and your cheese and raw honeycomb platter is ready to go.
It helps to serve slices of baguette with your platter. These give the cheese and honey a solid foundation to build on top of, making it all a little easier to eat.
Serving Honey and Cheese
To elevate the flavour of cheese, honey needs to be sparingly and a little goes a long way. If you’re not using raw honeycomb, the easiest way to serve honey with cheese is to drizzle the raw honey over the wedges just minutes before your guests arrive and sprinkle them with nuts. You can also serve a dish of honey on the side of the platter with a small spoon so guests can drizzle it themselves. This is my preference. Our raw kamahi honey is always a hit.
Check out our raw NZ manuka honey. It’s lovely, pure honey!
