Floating Island Cheese Wheel (Printable Version)

Cheese wheel on blue yogurt dip, garnished with grapes for a visually stunning party centerpiece.

# What You'll Need:

→ Cheese

01 - 1 large wheel of soft-ripened cheese (e.g., Brie or Camembert, about 1.1 lb)

→ Dip

02 - 14 oz plain Greek yogurt
03 - 1 tbsp lemon juice
04 - 1 tsp garlic powder
05 - 1/2 tsp salt
06 - Blue food coloring (gel or natural), quantity as needed

→ Garnishes

07 - 9 oz seedless black or red grapes
08 - Fresh herbs (optional, for decoration)

# How to Make It:

01 - Place the cheese wheel in the center of a large serving platter to represent the island.
02 - Combine Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt in a medium bowl; mix until smooth.
03 - Gradually add blue food coloring to the yogurt mixture, stirring continuously until a vivid, lake-like blue is achieved.
04 - Carefully spoon the blue-tinted yogurt dip around the cheese wheel, creating the appearance of a surrounding lake.
05 - Arrange seedless grapes around the edge of the yogurt lake for a decorative border.
06 - Optionally, embellish the cheese island with fresh herbs or edible flowers.
07 - Present immediately with crackers or bread on the side.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It looks like you spent hours on it, but it takes about fifteen minutes and requires zero cooking skills.
  • The creamy, tangy yogurt dip with that subtle garlic keeps people reaching back for more bites.
  • It's naturally vegetarian and gluten-free, which means fewer worried conversations during meal planning.
  • You can prep it thirty minutes ahead and it actually gets better as the flavors settle together.
02 -
  • The cheese needs to be soft enough to spread with a butter knife, so if you use a harder variety it will feel like serving a decoration instead of something meant to be eaten together.
  • That blue coloring will stain your hands and your platter if you're not gentle, so add it slowly and use a spoon you don't mind slightly discoloring, because gel food coloring is stubborn.
  • If you make this more than an hour ahead, the yogurt will start separating at the bottom, so time it as close to serving as you can manage without stressing about it.
03 -
  • A small drizzle of good olive oil or a swirl of pesto in one corner of the yogurt adds sophistication and gives people more to discover as they eat their way around the platter.
  • Chill the platter itself for five minutes before you start building if your kitchen is warm, because it helps everything hold its shape and prevents the yogurt from sliding around like it's in an ice rink.
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