With Halloween around the corner, and a season of sweets well on its way, we've created a guide on how to pair different candies with cheeses. From caramel, to brittle, to chocolate - read on for more savory and sweet cheese board inspiration.
A variety of aged cheeses naturally have a caramel note to them in flavor. Some examples are Super Aged Gouda, the real Parmigiano Reggiano, and Gruyère. But because a cheese offers so much more in flavor and texture, you'll be surprised to discover a real culinary experience on your hands - where the savory elements of the cheese play off the naturally sweet elements of the candy.
Super aged goudas, such as the Beemster X-O, naturally have flavors of butterscotch, whiskey, toasted pecans, and deep caramel. Is addition to this, the crystalline texture of gouda holds up to the texture of peanut brittle. Making brittle from scratch? I recommend making it a pecan brittle to take this pairing to the next level.
Have you ever tried Chicago-style caramel cheddar popcorn? If you have, you'll already know the naturally savory, buttery, tangy characteristics of cheddar pair wonderfully with caramel. To plate caramel corn on a cheese board, we recommend sourcing an aged to extra aged cheddar which often has its own caramel flavor in combination with notes of lemon curd, toasted nuts, and fresh grass. We recommend Cabot Clothbound Cheddar or Prairie Breeze Cheddar.
For that one time in the year when you'll eat candy corn. It may be cloyingly sweet on its own, but pair it with a semi-firm cheese with a buttermilk tang and a salty, creamy body, and you've got yourself a balanced tasting. From our collection, we recommend Treadway Creek from Old Brooklyn Cheese or the best havarti out there from Roth Cheese.
Alright, alright, we're huge fans of cheese and chocolate pairings. Alpine styles like Pleasant Ridge Reserve from our collection are a match made in heaven with your classic dark chocolate. We've even masterfully packaged our own pairings in our Introductory Cheese & Chocolate Package so you can really explore.
For more a more in-depth pairing guide for cheese & chocolate, click here.
Other sweets worth pairing:
Sweet Like Honey & Cheese Pairing Guide
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