What this is: The easiest Flavor Profile to love (but it’s still underestimated).
Who it’s for: The cheese gourmand with a sweet tooth.
The Sweet Flavor Profile 
The Sweet Flavor Profile is a perennial favorite for cheese lovers, even seasoned cheeseboard makers usually underestimate all of the glorious options in this category. Sure, there are the quintessential grapes, dried apricots, and honey (boring–or expected?) but sweet goes way beyond these. In fact, right now your pantry is probably filled with fun items you can put on your next cheese board.
This Category includes
- Chocolate
- Nougat
- Honey
- Cookies
- Jam
- Chutney
- Marshmallows
- Fruit
- Fruit paste
- Caramel sauce
- Butterscotch
- Candy
- Caramel corn
- Syrups
- Candied fruit peels
- Fruit leather
- Caramel candies
- Sugared nuts
Cheeses types it pairs with
Wines it pairs with
- Sparkling
- Sweet White
- Rosé
- Dessert
Favorite Mixed Flavor Profile pairings
- Sweet + Nutty + Salty → Nut butters
- Sweet + Nutty + Spicy → Sweet and Spicy nuts
- Sweet + Sour → Pickles
- Sweet + Umami → Savory Jams
- Sweet + Salty → Salted Caramels
Favorite Sweet pairing combos
- Artisan or homemade Ricotta with Honey Drizzle chopped sweet nuts on grilled bread
- Savory jam poured over fresh chèvre and served with sliced quick bread
- Cheddar cheese and Apple butter
- Blue cheese and caramel corn
Unexpected Sweet pairing combos
- Malted Milk Balls and a fudgy blue cheese
- Raspberry Jam and chocolate chèvre
On a cheese board
Adding sweets to a cheese board can be as simple as drizzling a honey over a chunk of blue cheese, pouring a jam over fresh chèvre, or topping a baked brie with sautéed fruit. For these gooier sweets, keep in mind how your guests are going to serve themselves—offer toothpicks, spoons, little tongs and/or plenty of spreading knives. Other fun little bits like caramel corn or candy can be corralled in little bowls on your board and chocolate bars can be broken up into smaller pieces.
Summary:
Rethink sweet and discover all the opportunities to make pairing magic.
Homework |
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Bake a cookie pairing and pair it with cheese—we aren’t kidding. Cookies are the great unsung hero of a cheese plate. In fact, your next cookie exchange can be a cheese and cooking pairing party! (Please invite us) Think about some of your favorite cookie recipes and we bet we can find a cheese to pair with it. Here are a few starting points:
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Downloads
Click the icons to download a pdf of this lesson and our two handy guides: How Cheese is Made and Cheese and Pairing Types.
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