Make cheese hedgehogs yourself – recipe and cool ideas for delicious party food
If you are currently looking for ideas for a cold buffet, you will find it here. Today we present a classic party food recipe – the so-called cheese hedgehog. You can make a party hedgehog with delicious cheese skewers yourself quickly and easily and use it to decorate the table for the next occasion.
The cheese hedgehog – a party hit from the past
This cold kitchen party recipe is actually nothing new. Cheese hedgehogs gained great popularity 50 years ago and were an essential part of any cold buffet in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Today the well-known finger food is celebrating a comeback and can be found more and more often at parties, children’s birthdays, picnics and family celebrations.
And what exactly is a cheese hedgehog? This finger food consists of small cheese skewers that are arranged in the shape of a hedgehog on a suitable surface. In addition to diced cheese, you can put meat, vegetables or fruit on the skewers and thus combine different recipes and tastes. With this in mind, there is not a single cheese hedgehog recipe – you can vary all of the ingredients except the cheese as you wish.
Select the subsurface
To mimic the exact shape of a hedgehog, you need a suitable surface. Large fruits are perfect for this. The selected fruit is usually first cut in half and then placed with the flat side on a plate or platter. The cheese skewers are then stuck onto it as a hedgehog spike. You can use toothpicks for small cheese hedgehogs and wooden skewers for large ones.
Suitable fruits for the subsurface are, for example, pineapple, honeydew melon, watermelon or grapefruit. Pineapples and melons can also be carved to create a face for your hedgehog.
You can also use bread as a base for the cheese hedgehog. The small skewers can be easily put on the soft bread and after all the cheese skewers are gone, you can eat the bread directly or use it for another recipe.
If you don’t want to sacrifice any fruit or bread for the party hedgehog, then you can make a base out of aluminum foil. A large potato is also suitable for small hedgehogs with cheese skewers.
Which cheese is suitable?
Cheese is a popular starter for young and old and should not be missing at any party. It can be used to prepare delicious bites and serve whole cheese platters. But which cheeses are best for the cheese urchin recipe?
When choosing the right type of cheese for the party hedgehog, taste plays a decisive role. In principle, hard to medium cheese is better suited for skewering because it is easier to dice and stands firmly on the toothpick. Some soft cheeses are also fine, although cream cheeses such as ricotta, quark or cottage cheese are not suitable at all.
Suitable cheeses for the cheese hedgehog
- Hard cheese – Cheddar, Emmental, mountain cheese
- Sliced cheese – Gouda, Edam, Tilsiter
- Soft cheese – camembert, brie, blue cheese, mozzarella, feta cheese
Ideas for delicious cheese skewers
For a cheese urchin skewered with delicious cheese skewers, the combination of the products plays the decisive role. You can either opt for a classic combination of cheese and fruit or opt for an individual variant with meat and / or vegetables.
Cheese skewers with tomatoes and mozzarella are a classic from the modern kitchen. Cherry tomatoes and baby mozzarella are best for the party hedgehog because they are easy to skewer and look great at the same time. If you want to put something on the table for meat lovers, you can also combine the cheese with meat. Whether ham, salami or sausage is decided by the taste. Other ingredients that you can use for your cheese skewers include:
- Olives
- Baby corn on the cob
- Cucumber
- Silver onions
- gherkins
- paprika
Cheese also combines wonderfully with fruits. The most popular combination is that of hard cheese and grapes. The following applies: the spicier the cheese, the better the taste is softened by the sweet grapes. Another classic is drinking wine with cheese and the cheese-pineapple combo. It was typical party food in the UK in the 80s and 90s. Other fruits such as berries, watermelon, honeydew melon and cocktail cherries also taste wonderful with cheese. Our tip: If you want to experiment, always try the selected combinations for the cheese skewers before you put the whole cheese urchin with them.
Make cheese hedgehogs yourself – that’s how it works!
In the following short instructions, we explain step-by-step how to make a cheese hedgehog yourself. Impress your guests at the next party with a creatively decorated starter that tastes great and is easy to use!
1. Select the substrate and cover with aluminum foil as desired. The base shouldn’t be too soft, but still soft enough for the skewers. If desired, shape the surface like a hedgehog and place it on a suitable plate.
2. Dice the selected cheese and the other ingredients into bite-sized pieces if necessary. Then put the small bites on the skewers / toothpicks. We recommend no more than four per serving.
3. Finally, put the finished cheese skewers on the surface to cover it completely. If the cheesecake also has a head and face, leave one end free and put black olives or blueberries on it for eyes and nose.
Your hedgehog is ready!
Cheese hedgehog with a difference – perfect for children’s birthdays
As you already know, the hedgehog consists of several skewers with cheese, meat, fruit or vegetables that form the hedgehog spines. You can also prepare these cute mini hedgehogs as hearty finger food for children’s birthdays. They are also made of cheese and small strips of carrots serve as spikes. You can prepare such a party snack from a round semi-hard cheese, a slice of cucumber and a round piece of bread. In addition to the carrots, you also need two pumpkin seeds for the eyes as decoration. With these mini cheese urchins you will definitely score points with the little guests.