Did You Move My Cheese?

About author / Rebecca Michaels

Queen of the desserts and pastry chef extraordinaire; graduate French Culinary Institute; Golden Scoop Award winner; Flying Monkey Bakery founder

I. Love. Cheese.

As far as I’m concerned, I could live on bread and cheese alone. But faithful readers know all that already. "Oh, Rebecca, why are you talking about how much you love cheese again? Cheese is cheese. And why on earth are you talking about cheese in a dessert and pastry column," you ask?

Because cheese makes an absolutely lovely dessert. In fact, in fine dining, cheese is a course before dessert and even sometimes takes the place of dessert altogether. Sometimes simply sweet doesn’t do justice to a spectacular meal, and the complexity of an assortment of nice cheeses can add just a little bit of panache to your meal.

Of course another added bonus of choosing a cheese plate as a final course is that it is very, very easy to whip up. Simply go to a trusted cheesemonger and let them help you pick a sampling.

I usually choose three or four cheeses for my plate. I pick up something soft, something hard and something blue. And if I’m feeling particularly fancy, a flavored cheese. Let’s discuss.

A soft cheese, like a brie or St. Andre is liked by most everyone. Soft cheeses can be mild or more earthy. Remember this when you balance out the flavors with your other cheese choices. One cheese that I have been eating on a regular basis lately is pave D’Affinois, a soft cow’s milk cheese from France. It’s buttery and delicious and difficult for all but the most calorie-conscious to resist!

A hard cheese is next. Choose a nice strong, aged cheddar or gouda. These are the types of cheeses that Americans are most familiar with, so pick something that can stand up flavor-wise and is interesting in its own right. Otherwise that little block of orange will sit there sadly while the other choices get polished off. My personal picks in this category are the Welsh Powerful cheddar or the 10 year Gouda. Lovely, lovely cheeses with a kick.

The blues are an interesting bunch. Some people who are unfamiliar with cheeses may shy away from them, but if you choose a nice quality blue and perhaps coax your more skittish guests, you just may have opened up a whole new world to them. A very fine blue cheese is the Gorgonzola dolce, not your typical domestic salad-wise gorgonzola, this cheese, is soft, slightly sweet and not too pungent. It is just lovely.

And if you really want to go whole-hog, pick up a nice flavored cheese to add to the bunch. Two that I really like are an English cheddar flavored with single malt Scotch and the other is a pecorino romano studded with truffles. There are loads of cheeses flavored with all kinds of interesting flavors. Choose one that appeals to you. It can be a little quirky. People will likely give it a whirl simply for the novelty.

Don’t forget to ask your fromagiers for samples before you buy! Cheese can get expensive fast!

Serve your cheese with simple water crackers or thin slices of baguette. Don’t get crazy with flavored crackers. You want your excellent cheese choices to stand out on their own. Slice up some melon and serve with strawberries and grapes on the side. Perhaps add some fresh figs or artisan olives to your cheese plate.

Ah. Can’t get much lovelier than that for dessert! And this is coming from someone who definitely knows her dessert! Trust me!