Perfect for parties or a romantic meal, this festive Valentine's charcuterie board combines hearts and roses of meats and cheese for a fun and creative appetizer or small meal.
Take each strip of bacon, and roll it into a rose shape. If the bacon strips are wide, you'll make more delicate, realistic looking roses by cutting them in half lengthwise before you begin rolling them up.
To make them look more realistic, leave them slightly loose and let the edges fold over upon themselves at times. I used the edge with the fat on the top of the rose, and that seemed to work well.
Place the bacon roses into small muffin tins or silicone ice cube trays to help them hold their shape as you bake them. I used silicone cube-shaped ice cube trays, and they were the perfect size for holding the roses up and together. If you are using tiny muffin tins to hold the bacon roses, you may need to add aluminum foil to the tins or use toothpicks to help keep them in place.
Keep checking on them to make sure they aren't falling over or burning. Bake the bacon roses in the oven until they get brown and crisp. If the roses are browning on the top but are uncooked on the bottom, carefully flip them over to cook the bottoms for a few minutes.
Make strawberry hearts (optional)
Cut the stems off the strawberries.
Cut a small v-shaped wedge out of the top center part of the strawberries to make them look like hearts. Cut the shaped strawberries in slices to form several thinner strawberry hearts from each strawberry.
Assemble charcuterie board
Find a wooden board, slate plate, or marble slab that you can use as the base. Choose one that won't be too big for the ingredients you want to use.
While the roses are baking, assemble the other meats and cheeses. Use a variety of cheese wedges and slices. Slices of cheese can be nestled between slices of meat.
Use a heart shape cookie cutter to cut out some cheese hearts.
Use kitchen shears to cut the sliced meats into hearts or other shapes, as desired.
Once you've arranged the meats and cheeses in a visually appealing way, place the fruits and extras around them to fill up any empty spaces.
Add your bacon roses. To get them to stay in place, use your kitchen shears to cut off the bottom, leaving the underside flat.
Video
Notes
The bacon roses can be premade, and the strawberries can be washed, dried, and carved ahead of time. They can then be sliced and placed on the charcuterie board at the time of serving.