Halloween Black Cat Charcuterie Board

Introduction

The black cat in the middle of this Halloween board isn’t a decoration you move out of the way before you start snacking. It’s made of blackberries, with cucumber eyes, pumpkin-seed pupils, a blueberry nose and a set of very thin whiskers. It’s also the only appetizer at the party that looks back at you.

Around the cat it’s a proper Halloween charcuterie board: folded salami, white cheese, crisp cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh berries, and a couple of little orange pumpkins made from melted cheddar. So it isn’t just a fruit plate with a face. There’s enough savory food here to put out as a real appetizer, not only as a kids’ snack.

None of it needs cooking beyond one minute in the microwave, and the whole board comes together in about half an hour.

How the Cat Comes Together

The cat is the part people will notice, so it goes on first, while the platter is still empty and you have room to get the shape right.

Think of it as a cat sitting upright, seen from the front: a rounded head, two pointed ears, and a wider body underneath. Pack the blackberries in close together, touching each other. Gaps between the berries show the platter through the cat, and a patchy cat is harder to recognize from across the room.

The face is where it comes alive. Two cucumber rounds make the eyes, with a pumpkin seed pressed into the middle of each as a pupil. A single blueberry becomes the nose, and short pieces of uncooked spaghetti poke out on either side as whiskers. The whiskers are just for looks.

The cheese pumpkins sit at the cat’s feet, and on our board the cucumber slices curve up along one side in a way that reads nicely as a tail.

What Goes on the Board

• Blackberries are the cat. Choose firm berries without bruises, and make sure they’re completely dry before they go on the platter so they don’t leave juice across everything else.
• Blueberries fill the gaps once the rest of the board is built, plus one more for the nose.
• Fresh red and golden raspberries tuck into the last corners and add a bit of warm Halloween color next to all that dark fruit.
• Salami, folded into ribbons, gives the board most of its savory weight.
• White cheese, cut into rough triangles. We used a firm white cheese; mozzarella, sharp white cheddar, Brie or Camembert all fit.
• Cucumber and cherry tomatoes add crunch and color.
• Shredded cheddar and a silicone pumpkin mold make the cheese pumpkins. Pack the cheddar into the cavities, microwave for a minute until it melts, and let it cool completely before you pop them out.

The quantities in the recipe card fill one rectangular serving platter. If yours is bigger, add more of the savory fillers around the edges rather than stretching the cat to fit.

Serving and Scaling

The board serves 4 to 5 as a snack. You can see a few round crackers next to it in our photos; they’re a side rather than part of the board, and the notes under the recipe say more about what to serve alongside.

For a bigger crowd, don’t build a bigger cat. Build a second board, or keep the one cat and set out a separate plate of salami and cheese next to it.

If you’re putting together a whole Halloween table, our keto pumpkin cheese ball and Halloween pumpkin deviled eggs go right alongside it.

Happy Halloween! If you make the cat, we’d love to hear how yours turned out.