Bring Back Trick-or-Treating Nostalgia With a Halloween Candy Charcuterie Board

To start my board, I gathered as many Halloween-themed treats as I could find, focusing on snacks that were orange, black, green, brown, and red in colour. I also turned some non-Halloween candy like Milano cookies and chocolate finger biscuits into spooky treats. For the cookies, I used melted chocolate to write "RIP" so they look like headstones. For the finger biscuits, I shaped malleable caramel chews with raspberry preserves into bloody fingernails, and added them to the tips of the biscuits so they look like ghoulish fingers. I did put pumpkin butter in the centre of my board, but feel free to use dirt pudding or any other treat you desire.

Building the actual board is where the fun really begins! I found that placing a small bowl with dip or small candies in the middle of the board is a great first step if you're feeling overwhelmed with options. Afterwards, I put down a row of cookies that went across the diameter of the tray to help me "visualize" how I wanted my board to look like. Another pro tip is to use a tray with a slight edge to keep the candy in place.

As you continue to fill the board with each individual snack, keep in mind that the more "movement" there is on your board, the more appealing it will look, so don't be afraid to get creative with stacking and laying the candy out in various ways across the board. There are pretty much no rules when it comes to this stage, but try not to place two piles of the same type of candy exactly across from each other if you don't want a perfectly symmetrical board.

The last step in creating a hauntingly delightful candy board is to add additional height and depth by stacking sweets like gummy spiders or chocolate fingers on top of various candy sections. You'll know you're done when the board has disappeared beneath the candy and the set up looks a little too creepy to eat.