When it comes to entertaining, nothing is as easy and impressive at the same time as a beautiful cheese board, or platter full of sweet and savory snacks. When your aim is to serve a cheese platter that is both gorgeous and delicious, you can’t just serve cheese alone (though, I wouldn’t mind). “What are the best things to serve besides cheese on a good cheese platter?” you might ask. Bread, crackers, cured meats, honey, nuts and wine are all good answers. Nothing like some fatty dairy spread on some carb-y stuff paired with some salty meats and a glass of fermented fruit, am I right?  

However, while crackers, bread and cheese might be BFFs, fruit and cheese are the perfect pair. When paired well, the sweetness and freshness of fruit can really elevate the savoury and nutty taste of cheese. The best part of making a fruit and cheese platter is that you can personalise it with any fruit and cheese you like since most fruits combine well with cheese (except maybe you, banana and grapefruit). The question is, however, how do you make a great fruit and cheese combo?

In order to serve the most delicious fruit and cheese platter you’ll first have to think seasonally.
If it’s spring or summer, there’s a huge selection of fruits to pick from; berries, cherries, fresh peaches, plums and apricots, watermelon, and of course cheese’s most well-known fruit-buddy grape, are all amazing with both fresh, soft and crumbly hard cheeses.
If it’s autumn, or winter, I like to serve my cheese with some crisp apples, winter pears, pomegranates and some dried fruits and nuts… and don’t forget about those fruity jams and chutneys (and this delicious homemade quince paste over here)!

Okay. So your choice of fruit depends on the season and availability of fruit in your area, but what about the cheese?
Luckily, there are no real rules when it comes to picking cheese for a cheese board or platter. I believe that the right cheeses for your cheese platter simply are your favorite types of cheese. The only real cheese rule you should follow is: “thou shalt not serve cheese straight out of the fridge“., meaning, whichever cheeses you pick, they all should be served at room temperature (not just Brie and Camembert, but hard cheeses too!). Always. 
Having said that, there are a few basic guidelines you can follow to make a great selection of cheese.

First, A great cheese platter should include at least one cheese made from each different type of milk: cow’s milk, goat’s milk and sheep’s milk (and donkey? looking at you Pule. Let’s make that ‘commonly available types of milk’, shall we.).
Secondly, you should try to offer a variety of textures and flavours: rather than serving cheese of similar textures and intensities, try to offer at least one soft or semi-soft cheese, one semi-hard cheese, and one hard- or very crumbly aged cheese with at least one of them being on the ‘milder’ less intense side of the flavour spectrum.
Now, if you really want to impress your cheese-loving guests you should definitely expand your offer of cheeses into the realm of fresh cheeses, washed and bloomy rind cheeses, and blue mold cheeses (the latter definitely is always part of my cheese platter).

Below I have listed some of my favourite cheese and fruit pairings in case you needed some inspiration. Of course, I don’t serve all of these at once, but I like to pick about 3 – 4 different types of cheese from different categories and a fruit or condiment they each go well with for a small cheese platter, or 5 or 6 different types of cheese for a large cheese platter. And, of course, don’t forget about the bread, crackers, nuts and honey.

My Favourite Cheese and Fruit Combinations

Fresh, Soft and Semi-Soft cheeses

Fresh, whey and stretched curd cheeses:

Anthotyro, Burrata (di bufala), Ricotta /  
spring/summer: blueberries, blackberries, fresh apricots, fresh figs, peaches, pineapple, raspberries, sweet cherries
autumn/winter: kiwi, dates, dried apricots, strawberry- and raspberry jam

Brined cheeses:

Feta, Halloumi /
spring/summer: fresh figs, nectarines, peaches, watermelon (duh)
autumn/winter: persimmon, pomegranate, fig- or prickly pear jam, fig chutney, preserved lemon

Soft-ripened or bloomy rind cheeses:

Brie, Camembert /
spring/summer: fresh apricots, blackberries, blueberries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, summer pears
autumn/winter: apples, winter pears, dried apricots, apricot-, blueberry- and strawberry jam, orange marmalade, cherry preserves

Washed rind cheeses:

Epoisses, Herve, Taleggio / 
spring/summer: fresh figs, grapes, summer pears
autumn/winter: winter pears, crisp and sweet apples, dried apricots and dried cherries

Soft and semi-soft goat cheeses:

Bucheron, Chèvre, Crottin de Chavignol, Machedoux, Picodon,/
spring/summer: fresh apricots, blackberries, blueberries, fresh figs, mango, nectarines, peaches, raspberries, strawberries
autumn/winter: persimmon, pomegranate, winter pears, dates, dried cranberries, dried prunes, apricot jam, blackberry jam

Semi-hard, Hard and Crumbly Cheeses

Semi-hard and hard cheeses: 

Edam, or young Gouda / 
spring/summer: red grapes, pineapple
autumn/winter: apples, winter pears, strawberry jam, raisins and sultanas Dutch apple butter (appelstroop), mango chutney

Cheddar, Emmental, Graviera, Gruyère /
spring/summer: summer apples, summer pears, sweet grapes
autumn/winter: apples, winter pears, dates, apricot jam, blackberry jam

Hard and crumbly cheeses:

Parmigiano-Reggiano / 
spring/summer: fresh figs, grapes, strawberries, summer pears
autumn/winter: sweet and tart apples, winter pears, dates, strawberry-, raspberry- and fig jam, quince paste, fig chutney

Extra mature Cheddar, aged (3+ years) crumbly Gouda (‘brokkelkaas’) /
spring/summer: sweet grapes, summer apples, summer pears
autumn/winter: sweet apples, winter pears, raisins and sultanas, fig chutney, most fruit jams, Dutch apple butter (appelstroop), quince paste

Hard goat and sheep cheeses:

Pecorino Romano, Manchego, aged Arseniko / 
spring/summer: figs, strawberries, summer pears
autumn/winter: sweet apples, winter pears, fig chutney, fig-, raspberry- and strawberry jam, quince paste

Blue cheeses

Blue cow’s cheeses:

Fourme d’Ambert, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Shropshire Blue /
spring/summer: fresh figs, sweet plums, summer pears
autumn/winter: sweet apples, winter pears, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried figs, dates, dried prunes, raisins and sultanas, fig jam

Blue sheep’s cheeses: 

Roquefort, Kopanisti / (same as above)

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Tip #1: take cheese out of the refrigerator an hour before serving to make sure the cheese is at room-temperature.

Tip #2: cut fruit right before serving and brush or dip sliced apples and pears in lemon juice to keep them from discolouring.