How to Upgrade Your Next Cheese Board
There’s often so many cheeses to choose from that it’s easy to overlook what fruit to pair your cheese with. But that may just be where you’re going wrong. Pink Lady® apples are a great upgrade from a few grapes and a pot of spiced chutney on the side.
Pairing Cheese with Apples
Pink Lady® apples and cheese make for a wonderful combination, and there’s not many cheeses that Pink Lady® apples don’t go well with. It’s all about balancing sweet and savoury flavours. Here’s a selection of top cheese varieties to combine with Pink Lady® apples:
- Cheddar – firm, creamy, tart and tangy. All of cheddar’s qualities bounce off the fresh, sweet zing of a Pink Lady® apple.
- Blue Cheese – a soft and pungent cheese, Pink Lady® apples provide a texture balancing crunch and a cleansing of the palette
- Goat’s Cheese – another soft cheese with a tart flavour that works brilliantly with Pink Lady®’s sweet flavour and crunchy bite
- Manchego – an intense cheese with a salty tartness that benefits from the fresh, juicy crunch of Pink Lady® apples
- Brie – always a cheese board favourite, brie’s earthy and slightly nutty tones combine nicely with Pink Lady® apples
How to Cut Apples for a Cheese Board?
The best way to cut apples for a cheese board is to cut quite thin little wedges. Once you have the wedges, you can cut into the core and remove any stray pips. You should leave the skin on – it’s packed with nutrients, provides an extra touch of texture and adds a burst of colour to your cheese board.
Is Apple and Cheese a Healthy Snack?
One of the best things about how well apples and cheese go together is that it’s a healthy and filling snack. As one of your recommended five-a-day, apples contain many vitamins and nutrients as well as being a source of fibre. As per NHS guidance, cheese also forms part of a healthy diet as it is a source of protein and calcium. So the combination of apples and cheese makes for a healthy snack.
If you’re looking for a few alternative apple and cheese recipes rather than a cheese board, try these ones below:
PINK LADY® CROSTINI WITH CHEDDAR, HONEY AND WALNUT
All you need for this recipe is some toasted baguette slices topped with chunks of cheddar cheese and Pink Lady® apples. Go for a layer of indulgence with some walnuts and a drizzle of honey.
SPANISH APPLE AND MANCHEGO TAPAS
As we’ve already noted, Pink Lady® apples work brilliantly with Manchego cheese, and by griddling your apples ever so slightly you’ll bring out a really nice charred sweet flavour. As it’s a tasty tapas dish, you could even treat yourself to a nice wine, sangria or vermouth on the side. Why not?
PINK LADY® APPLE, CHEDDAR AND PROSCIUTTO FLATBREAD
This recipe combines cheddar cheese, Pink Lady® apples and prosciutto on some delicious homemade bread. Perfect as a light lunch or an afternoon snack. You can skip on the prosciutto to make it vegetarian if you’d prefer.
CHEESE, BEETROOT AND APPLE PLOUGHMAN'S
Similar to a cheese board, a Ploughman's lunch can be improved with the addition of Pink Lady® apples. If you would like, you can add some sliced ham, a homemade pork pie, or whatever it is you'd like on your Ploughman's. The key is the freshness of the zingy Pink Lady® apple making all the difference.