A friend recently held a woodland animal themed baby shower for her daughter, and this little hedgehog cheese ball was the star of the appetizer table!
Start with your favorite cheese ball recipe. I’d use my mom’s go-to:
8oz of cream cheese,
1 cup of finely shredded cheddar cheese,
1 teaspoon (or more) of garlic powder,
1 tablespoon (or more) of Worchestershire Sauce,
and a couple of dashes of Liquid Smoke.
Combine until well incorporated.
Mom would have rolled it into a ball and coated it with chopped nuts before setting it out with crackers, but this little guy needs a snout.
For this prickly pardner, my friend tells me she put the cheese mixture into a thin plastic bag (the kind you use to bag veggies at the grocery store,) then shaped it; first into a ball, then slightly elongating one end.
Afterward, refrigerate for an hour or more until it’s firm. (Overnight or even a day or two in advance is fine too.)
When it has firmed up, remove from wrapping, and place on serving dish then press pecan halves into the cheese—beginning at the rear and working forward to the head—in a fan pattern. leaving space around the “head and snout”. She used dried currants for the eyes and nose.
Garnish with greens and veggies, maybe a button mushroom or two.
So stinkin’ cute!
It will look splendid on any fall or winter table!
Serve with crackers - but be sure to check on him a few minutes into the gathering, and if he hasn’t been touched spear a big chunk for your own cracker, because my friend tells me no one at the shower was willing to take the first serving!
*Note: I’ve seen a similar idea using pretzel sticks instead of pecan halves. This would be the option I’d need to use if my daughter with the nut allergy was present.