13 Unique Birthday Party Charcuterie Board Ideas

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A charcuterie board is the perfect way to add a personal and delicious touch to any birthday party.

Charcuteries have expanded from the typical meat-and-cheese platters to imaginative, colorful, and tasty boards that will take any birthday party to the next level.

I’ve been to birthday parties where an entire table was dedicated to charcuterie, and I’ve been to others where there is a simpler colorful platters with meats, cheese, and berries.

I have never met a charcuterie board I didn’t like! 🙂 If you love them as much as I do, you have come to the right place!

I’ve rounded up my favorite candy-centered birthday party charcuterie board ideas that are as delicious as they are beautiful.

Read on to discover 13 birthday party charcuterie boards and products you’ll want to make an impressive charcuterie board for your next birthday celebration.

13 Birthday Charcuterie Board Ideas

1. Custom Birthday Dessert Charcuterie Board

Jessica shares how she makes gorgeous dessert charcuterie boards (including number-shaped dessert boards!) on Homebody Eats.

You’ll love trying out her charcuterie board recipes for colorful macarons, cookie dough bites, and chocolate-covered pretzels.

She also has recipes for a grown-up “boozy” dessert charcuterie board, perfect for a 21st birthday party!

2. Super Mario Party Snack Board

Kids (and adults!) who love Super Mario will go crazy over this Mario-themed charcuterie board.

This board includes sweets like peach rings, gummy dinosaurs, and homemade mushroom marshmallows (the recipe is on her post!).

It also has savory components like cheese stars, sourdough hard pretzels, and cheesy popcorn balls.

Everyone will love the tasty choices on this birthday charcuterie board.

3. Dessert Dip Board

This charcuterie board is the perfect blend of sweet and healthy.

Kate from AHundredAffections shares five different dessert dips including Fluffernutter dessert dip, Nutella dessert dip, and Cannoli Dessert dip.

These can be paired with fruits like strawberries and grapes as well as sweeter crunchy treats like graham crackers and waffle cone pieces.

4. Barbie Party Charcuterie Board

If you have a Barbie girl, living in a Barbie world, this pink themed charcuterie would be a great addition to her birthday party.

Christi at Love from the Oven shares all of the ingredients you’ll need, plus two recipes (pink funfetti popcorn and pink chocolate dipped pretzels).

She also shares tips on how to place your charcuterie board ingredients for maximum wow factor.

5. Candy Apple Dipping Charcuterie Board

This is one of our favorite charcuterie board ideas. We’ve did this apple dipping board at a birthday party and it was a huge hit…adults and kids both loved it!

Slice apples (you can use several varieties if you’d like) and put wooden dowels or extra-long toothpicks into a jar nearby.

Add several dipping sauces like caramel, white, semi-sweet, and dark chocolate, and then a variety of candies/toppings to dip the apples in.

We loved mini-M&Ms, crushed Oreos, and cinnamon sugar, but you should check out all of the clever ideas in this post.

6. Valentine Candy Charcuterie Board

Even though this is Valentine-themed, the pink and red choices for this dessert charcuterie board make it a sweet and fitting option for birthday girls (or boys) who love these colors.

This kid-friendly and easy-to-make charcuterie features mostly store-bought products, so it’s a breeze to throw together.

You can also add homemade chocolate-covered strawberries and dessert dips (recipes are included in the post) to make it even more special.

7. Ice Cream Sundae Charcuterie Board

Nothing goes with a birthday party better than ice cream!

This clever charcuterie board will make the ice cream eating even more exciting.

Kim and Kallee share lots of ideas for this charcuterie board including Reese’s Pieces and gummy bears, or more grown-up options like dried fruit and herbs like mint and lavender.

8. Custom Rainbow Candy Board

I love the candy boards available on Etsy. Sugarmamicandy offers three sizes of acrylic boxes (6×6”, 8×8”, and 10×10”) with gummy letters surrounded by your choice of colored candies.

This would be great to send directly to a friend who is having a birthday OR could be purchased and put on a platter for a birthday party.

Supplies for your Birthday Party Charcuterie Board

There are products on Etsy that will make preparing a birthday party charcuterie simple and fun.

9. Round Maple, Cherry, or Walnut Charcuterie Board

Any charcuterie will be elevated with these beautiful circular charcuterie boards.

You can choose from three different sizes and three different wood types including maple, cherry and walnut.

10. Reusable High-Quality Letter Box

You could use the letters HBD (Happy Birthday!) or the birthday boy or girl’s initials. These letter boxes come in 10, 12, or 16” sizes and a variety of colors.

Adding candies or treats to the letter boxes will elevate your birthday party charcuterie display.

11. Custom Candy Dish Name Tray

This would make such a cute and custom addition to a Birthday Party Charcuterie Board! You can choose from block or script font.

The space inside the letters isn’t giant but would be perfect for smaller candies like M&Ms, gummy candies, and jelly beans.

12. Charcuterie Dome Containers

If you want to go a bit fancier, you could use individual candy domes to create a beautiful charcuterie board display.

These beautiful domes come with fancy toothpicks and mini wooden forks.

These containers are great for pre-serving part or all of the charcuterie food spread.

For example, you could put a small container of dessert dip, surrounded by fruits and cookies, or small treats like cookies and candies into each container.

13. Charcuterie Cheat Sheets

This clever helper from Etsy Shop ColorBoxLetterpress will give you a visual guide for organizing your birthday charcuterie board.

These 12 x 18″ reusable templates come in many different shapes including a heart, a bunny, a flower or a football.

What Do You Put On A Candy Charcuterie Board?

Traditionalists will say the only things that belong on a good charcuterie board are a variety of cheeses and meats, fresh fruit, and bread and crackers. However, special occasions call for breaking the rules a bit!

A birthday dessert board or charcuterie board is a fun way to made a special day so much fun.

Pretty much anything goes with a candy charcuterie board. From mini cakes to sweet treats and a variety of foods in between, a candy charcuterie board is an easy way to add bright colors and delight to any birthday spread.

There is a method to the madness though, and I’m here to walk you through the best ways to choose and display candy and sweets on a birthday charcuterie board.

What Is The 3-3-3-3 Rule For A Charcuterie Board? (Do I need to use it with a candy charcuterie?)

With a traditional meat-and-cheese platter charcuterie board, you want to balance out the different food items in this ratio: 3 meats, 3 cheese, 3 starches (breads/crackers) and 3 accompaniments (spreads, fruits, veggies).

This is a great rule-of-thumb for your Happy Birthday charcuterie board as well. Not only does it make the food more balanced, but it also helps with the appearance of the food display.

One option would be 3 candies, 3 starchy treats (cakes, cookies, animal crackers, etc), 3 spreads/dips and 3 fruits.

How Do I Choose A Theme For A Birthday Charcuterie Board?

There are a few things that can help you plan the theme of your birthday board.

1) The birthday party theme: The easiest way to pick your charcuterie board theme is to coordinate it with the birthday party theme. See below for some fun options!

2) The birthday person’s favorites: Of course it’s a great idea to add the birthday boy or girl’s favorite candies. But be sure to expand beyond those favorites to make a balanced charcuterie platter.

3) Colors: Choose foods that coordinate with the birthday party color themes. There are lots of different candy options that can coordinate with any color scheme.

4) Different Shapes: If the birthday party theme has shapes involved (rainbow theme, stars, etc), choose foods that can easily be cut INTO those shapes (sugar cookies, cakes, fruits etc).

What Tools And Products Do I Need To Make A Birthday Party Charcuterie Board?

Besides the food, some of the products that you’ll need include:

A large board or cutting board: These can be wooden or plastic and shaped like a number or letter to make it even more fun (see some options to buy below!)
Small Bowls for display: Use these bowls for dips or spreads, or just to separate the candies from each other. Be sure to cover them with plastic wrap until you are ready to use them. I have even seen cupcake wrappers as small bowls on one. It was cute and easy to clean up afterward.
Toothpicks: These are a cute and inexpensive way for party-goers to pick up their treats.
Serving plates or bowls: I refer paper plates so the clean up is easy and often we have a backyard bonfire going that we can toss them directly into.

How Do I Place The Candy/Treats On The Birthday Charcuterie Board?

Start by placing any containers you’ll be using on the board, with adequate spacing.

Next, add any spreads or dips to the bowls.

Cluster the food(s) that go with each dip near the bowl.

Try to spread out colors for maximum visual impact. Rainbow or monochrome are also a fun option!

Put smaller foods in any empty spaces on the board

I love birthday candy charcuterie boards because they are a creative way to display what is arguably the best part of any birthday bash: the food!

By choosing treats and candies that the birthday person loves and coordinate with the party theme, a birthday charcuterie board is a great option for a colorful and tasty food spread.