A new Christmas food trend is taking Australia by storm – with thousands heading out to make festive 'buttercream boards' for holiday snacks.
A twist on the classic charcuterie board, buttercream boards feature the frosting as the main attraction and contain small snacks for people to dip.
The grazing style bowl is typically festively decorated – with the icing made into a snowman or Christmas trees.
Popular additions to the plate include mini cookies, waffle chips, marshmallows, chocolate and fudge.
Some also choose to add savory treats like crackers or salted pretzels to balance out the sugar.
A new Christmas food trend is taking Australia by storm – thousands are heading out to make festive 'buttercream boards' for holiday snacks
A twist on the classic charcuterie board, buttercream boards feature the frosting as the main dip and contain small snacks for people to dip
Foodies have tried endless combinations of toppings to decorate their plates, including edible flowers, fruits, honey, nuts and herbs.
The plate is easy to make and can be an easy snack, appetizer or even an artistic addition to a dinner party.
To make a delicious buttercream plate, all you have to do is make homemade icing or buy some at the grocery store.
Then all you have to do is spread the buttercream on a cheese board with a palette knife or piping bag. You can also use food coloring to create designs such as Santa hats, Christmas trees, flowers and more.
Even if you're not much of an artist, you can make your simple colorless buttercream stand out by sprinkling chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles on top.
The grazing style bowl is typically festively decorated – with the icing made into a snowman or Christmas trees
Thousands have shared how the imaginative signs 'saved' their Christmas.
'I'm obsessed with this idea; it's so easy to make and my kids will love it,” said one.
“This is the perfect dessert for when you have friends over – everyone can just sit around the plate and take a dip,” says another.
“I love that you can create so many different designs with this,” one woman added.
Foodies have tried endless combinations of toppings to decorate their plates, including edible flowers, fruits, honey, nuts and herbs
If you want to make the buttercream from scratch at home, you will need unsalted butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract for flavor.
Professional baker Brooke Saward's rule of thumb is to add 4 cups of icing sugar per 1000 g of butter.
The baker begins by placing room temperature butter in her KitchenAid and begins mixing to cream the butter.
She makes sure to wipe the side of the bowl with a spatula at least three times during the process so that all the butter is beaten evenly.
Even if you're not much of an artist, you can make your simple colorless buttercream stand out by sprinkling chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles on top.
Brooke then sifts in the powdered sugar when the butter is fluffy and a few shades lighter than when she started the process.
“I always strain it so there are no lumps,” she said. 'And add the icing sugar slowly, so that it doesn't fly out.'
She then adds a few teaspoons of vanilla extract and continues to beat the ingredients until they are perfectly blended.
“You'll have a beautiful, smooth buttercream that colors really well at the end,” she said proudly — and it's ready to go on your holiday plate.