Your fall centerpiece can have cheese on it. This pumpkin charcuterie idea uses a whole pumpkin as the base, with toothpicks holding the snacks around the stem. No carving, no scooping out pumpkin guts, and no tiny jack-o’-lantern face to get wrong.
The inspiration comes from Nicolle Love of ConVino Board, whose mini version makes a pretty little place setting. For a shared centerpiece, choose one larger pumpkin and concentrate the snacks near the top. The pumpkin does the decorating. You get to concentrate on the cheese.
What you’ll need
- One fresh, unpainted pumpkin that sits steadily on a plate
- Food-safe wooden toothpicks or cocktail picks
- Cubed cheese, such as cheddar or Havarti
- Thin slices of ready-to-eat salami
- Grapes and optional pitted olives
- Fresh rosemary
- A serving plate, cutting board and knife
- Crackers and a small dish of jam to serve alongside
Choose the pumpkin before buying enough food to cover it. A little one with a ring of snacks around the stem is a manageable starting point. A big pumpkin doesn’t need every inch covered, either. Leaving the bottom bare keeps the pumpkin part of this very obvious.
How to make pumpkin charcuterie
1. Clean your pumpkin and prep the food
Start with clean hands, utensils and a clean work surface. Wash the pumpkin under running water, scrub its firm skin with a clean produce brush, and dry it. Rinse and dry the grapes and rosemary, too.
Skip soap, bleach and household cleaners on the produce. The FDA recommends running water, even for produce with a rind you won’t eat. Choose a sound pumpkin without rot or damaged spots; leave painted and glitter-covered decorations out of the food setup.
2. Make the bite-size pieces
Cube the cheese. Fold each salami slice in half, then fold it again to make a little fan. Pull the grapes from their stems and drain any olives.
3. Build around the stem
Place the pumpkin on its serving plate. Push toothpicks into the upper portion, then add the cheese, fruit and folded meat. Keep the food on the exposed part of each pick, with enough pick left to grasp.
Work around the pumpkin rather than finishing one side first. Alternate colors and leave room between picks for fingers. If a piece keeps sliding off, make it smaller or give it its own pick. This is an appetizer, not a structural engineering exam.
4. Finish with rosemary
Tuck small rosemary sprigs into the gaps. Keep the stem visible, and stop before the snacks become difficult to reach. Put crackers and jam beside the pumpkin instead of trying to balance everything on it.
Make it a party snack, not an all-day decoration
Prep the ingredients ahead and refrigerate the perishables at 40°F or below. Assemble shortly before serving; count preparation time as part of the time the food spends out of the refrigerator.
According to the FDA’s buffet guidance, discard perishable food that has been out for more than two hours, or one hour above 90°F. Keep extra portions refrigerated and bring them out on a clean plate rather than continually topping up the same display.
Set out a little bowl for used picks, and make sure guests remove the toothpicks before eating. Keep the pointed display away from small children.
For another Halloween-table idea, take a look at these skeleton charcuterie boards. Apparently the snack table has a costume budget now.
