Serve a Cheese Plate for Dessert

Brillat Savarin is a triple crème (pronounced either "crem" or "cream"), a style of cheese that has a butterfat content of at least 75%. This is one level higher than a cheese like Brie, which has a butterfat content between 60%-74% and is considered a double crème.Triple crème cheeses have a luxurious, whipped texture and buttery, mild flavor. Decadent and exceptionally creamy, Brillate Savarin is an easy stand-in for dessert. 

A few other triple crème cheeses to look for are Saint Andre, Explorateur and Delice de Bourgogne (French) and Mt. Tam, Largo and Champlain Valley Triple (U.S.A.). 

Rogue River Blue is wrapped in Syrah grape leaves that have been soaked in pear brandy. The cheese has a sweet, fruity and woodsy flavor and much less sharpness and saltiness than some other types of blue cheese. 

 

Other blue cheeses to consider for dessert are Cashel Blue, Great Hill Blue and St. Agur, which tend to be fairly mild and very creamy. 

Unlike young gouda, which is soft and mild, aged Gouda has a sweet, butterscotch flavor and a hard texture that is extremely rich. If you can find Gouda that has been aged for five years, you're in for a treat. This cheese is so caramelized, it's almost like eating candy.

If you can't find Gouda that has been aged for between 2-5 years, other similar cheeses to look for are Roomano or Prima Donna.

This goats' milk cheese made in Oregon is aged to a semi-hard texture and has a sweet, intriguing flavor from the addition of fenugreek seeds. The fenugreek seeds give the slightly sharp cheese divine flavors of maple and baking spice. It's a unique treat, especially well suited for a dessert course. 

If you can't find Fenacho, look for Purple Haze, a soft goat cheese blended with fennel pollen and lavender.

This fluffy, creamy little cupcake of a cheese is a blend of cow, sheep and goat milk. Tangy, full-flavored but also mild and milky, it hits all the right notes for a memorable end of a meal.

If you can't find La Tur, look for other soft Italian cheeses like Brunet or Rocchetta.