Buttercream charcuterie boards are a fun way to serve dessert for the whole family. You can make them in a variety of sizes to feed your crowd and customize them with your favorite sweet treats. We like to use a variety of textures and flavors for the dippers and, of course, we always include some of our sweet varieties of seasoned sourdough pretzel nuggets for crunch!
What is a Buttercream Board?
It’s a platter or cutting board that you set up like a charcuterie board but instead of savory ingredients, you build it around buttercream frosting. And for the sides, instead of crackers or olives, you opt for brownie bites, cookies, fruit and other sweet treats.
Buttercream Board Ideas
There are so many different ways to create a buttercream board. The sky (and your imagination) is truly the limit! Here are some of our favorite buttercream board ideas.Â
- Colorful Creations: If you’re making a buttercream charcuterie board for your child’s birthday or spring occasion, add lots of color and whimsy. You can color the frosting pastel or vibrant depending on the type of food coloring you use. Add sprinkles and sanding sugar to the top of the buttercream for color if you don’t like to use food coloring. For the dippers, choose confetti cookies, strawberry wafers and meringue kisses for pops of color throughout the platter.Â
- Flavor Forward: Â For a more sophisticated twist on a buttercream board, add spices like cinnamon and nutmeg to your frosting. If you go this route, our Sweet Chili and Sweet & Spicy pretzel nuggets will be great for dippers, along with gingerbread cookies and carrot cake bites.
- Keep it Classic: Feeding a large group of people young and old sometimes calls for simplicity. In this case, use traditional frosting for your buttercream board and use favorite desserts like brownies, chocolate chip cookies and strawberries for the dippers. You can also use Sweet & Salty and Salty Butterscotch OMG! Pretzels since these flavors pair perfectly with the classic vibe and add much-needed crunch to this dessert charcuterie board set up.
Christmas Buttercream Board
For a holiday party, lean into the season and create a whimsical buttercream snowman. It’s simple to make, even if you aren’t an expert with piping frosting. Plus, the snowman makes such a cute centerpiece for any dessert spread.Â
Here’s how to make this Christmas buttercream board.
- Make a template out of parchment paper. This is super handy to be sure your snowman has the correct proportions and shape. We used three sizes of bowls to create our snowman template.Â
- Prep your piping bag. Choose the tip you want and fasten it on the end of your bag. Place the bag in a glass and roll the open ends down so it will be ready to fill with buttercream.
- Make (or buy) your buttercream. You can definitely use store bought buttercream for your Christmas buttercream board if you want. Or, use your favorite recipe (or ours, see below).
- Fill the piping bag with buttercream.Â
- Pipe your snowman. We like using two techniques so that the middle of the snowman has a different texture than the rest. But, follow your own creativity here!Â
- Place chocolate chips for eyes and mouth.Â
- Make the scarf. For this we used a piece of red licorice. Halfway on the piece, make a vertical cut so the scarf looks like it’s blowing in the wind.Â
- Place your sweet treats around the snowman and your Christmas buttercream board is ready to go!
Buttercream Board Recipe
Buttercream Board Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp milk or half and half
- Food coloring, about 3 drops, if desired
For the buttercream board dippers:
- ½ cup each Sweet & Salty, Salty Butterscotch, Sweet Chili and Sweet & Spicy OMG! Pretzels
- 1 pint strawberries
- Assorted sweet treats, including brownie bites, cookies, small cakes, etc.
Instructions
- Make the buttercream by creaming the butter and sugar together until smooth with an electric mixer.
- Add in the vanilla and milk. Beat for another 45 seconds until well combined.
- Place the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with the tip of your choice. We opted for a rose tip.
- Pipe the buttercream on the buttercream charcuterie board in the pattern or design of your choice. You can just freehand it!
- Add sprinkles to the top of buttercream for a little fun and color.
- Surround the buttercream with sweet treats to finish the buttercream board.
- Serve and enjoy!
