Meet: Melting Snowman Board, the Best Holiday Appetizer You’ll Make All Season

Just set aside time for everyone to photograph it before digging in!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we’re all craving sweet treats to celebrate with loved ones. Dessert charcuterie boards are all the rage, and buttercream boards are gaining popularity because they’re not only delicious but eye-catching, too! Which leads straight to this adorable (and delicious) idea: this Melting Snowman Buttercream Board that is sure to be a hit at all your holiday parties!

How to Make a Melting Snowman Buttercream Board

This sweet snowperson couldn’t be easier to make: Sweet, fluffy buttercream frosting is piped onto a cutting board in the shape of a snowman. Then rich, decadent chocolate ganache creates his hat, eyes, mouth, and buttons. A blue sour candy creates a frosty scarf and a dollop of orange buttercream makes the cutest carrot nose. As guests scoop away the frosting on their own plates, it creates the illusion that the snowman is melting.

The best part is you can customize the dippers to your liking. We used strawberries, grapes, pretzels, and a variety of cookies for a mix of fresh, savory, and sweet. However, you could opt for a lighter snack board by choosing just fruits and pretzels, or you could create an even sweeter board by combining holiday candies and cookies. Candy canes dipped in the ganache we used for the top hat are the perfect chocolate peppermint treat!

Pro tip: Protect your cutting board. To prevent staining from the buttercream frosting, lay down a large sheet of parchment to cover your cutting board. Trim it to be a little smaller than your board for a seamless look. Just in case, here are our best tips to clean wooden cutting boards.

What You Need to Build a Melting Snowman Buttercream Board

• Large wooden or marble serving board or baking tray. With safety in mind, it’s best to select a serving board or a cutting board that hasn’t been used to cut raw meat.

• Spreaders or knives for folks to scoop up the buttercream to add to their plate

• Parchment paper to protect your cutting board from stains

• Buttercream frosting

• Chocolate ganache for the snowman’s hat, eyes, mouth, and buttons

• 2 pastry bags or a zip top bag to pipe the frosting and ganache

• Red and yellow food coloring for the snowman’s nose (an orange candy can be used instead)

• Sour candy ribbon or red licorice strings for the snowman’s scarf

• Various dippers like cookies, crackers, pretzels, candy, and fruit

How to Assemble a Melting Snowman Buttercream Board

1. Make the chocolate ganache, allowing it to cool while you make the frosting (the ganache needs to thicken enough to be piped).

2. Make the buttercream frosting.

3. If using food coloring for the snowman's nose, set aside 1 tablespoon of buttercream frosting.

4. Using either a pastry bag or a zip top bag with a small corner clipped off, pipe the buttercream frosting in a circular pattern, creating three separate circles for the snowman’s body.

Pro Tip: If you’re serving a big crowd you can double the frosting recipe and add a second layer on top of each circle. There will be more frosting without taking up more space on the board.

5. Use a spatula to spread the frosting to create a smoother look. You can also skip this step if you like how your piping turned out.

6. Add a small amount of red and yellow food coloring to the 1 tablespoon of frosting to create the orange for the carrot nose. Using the spatula or a spoon, carefully create the carrot nose shape or you can just add a dot of orange frosting for a round nose.

7. Add the ganache to a piping bag or zip top bag and pipe the hat onto the snowman’s head using small lines. Pipe the eyes, mouth, and buttons as well. You can reserve any remaining ganache on the side for folks to dip into.

8. Add the blue candy to create the snowman’s scarf.

9. Next add your dippers to the board. We recommend varying the shapes and colors to give the board a balanced look. Find more tips on building a great charcuterie board.

10. Set out plates and spreaders and enjoy! 
11. If you’re taking your buttercream snowman board to a gathering with lots of people, be sure to bring knives or spreaders for folks to gather the buttercream to put onto their plates and tongs for them to grab cookies and the other dippers.

Can You Make a Melting Snowman Buttercream Board Ahead of Time?

If you want to make the board ahead of time, there are a few options. You can make the buttercream frosting and store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in an airtight container. You can also go ahead and pipe the buttercream frosting and ganache onto the board the day before serving and store the board in the fridge, covered. We recommend adding your dippers just before serving. Although we doubt you’ll have any left, you can store any leftover buttercream in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks.