Piñata Cheese Ball Recipe for Holiday Entertaining (2024)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SutterHomeForTheHolidays #CollectiveBias The following content is intended for readers who are 21 or older.

You've seen the piñata cakes on Pinterest, right? The ones where you cut the cake open and candy spills out? Well, I rarely eat cake but I do love cheese, especially around the holidays. An almond crusted cheese ball was always on the buffet table at grandma's house for the holidays and it was a delicacy I looked forward to every year. Now that I host Christmas and holiday gatherings at my house, I share the cheese ball tradition with my family and friends on our buffet table. I also want to serve a cheese ball that is unique butthat everyone can enjoy. Let's elevate the cheese ball by creating a piñata cheese ball!

I looked online and no one has ever made a piñata cheese ball that I could find so I had to figure it out, all from scratch. I knew I'd need a soft cheese that I could mold into a dome shape to hold the filler inside the “piñata”. I also wanted a cheese that would pair well with the Sutter Home Pinot Grigio I planed to serve. Goat cheese was just the ticket! Creamy, moldable, and delicious with white wine like Sutter Home Pinot Grigio and even Sutter Home Moscato.

Family is at the heart of everything three generation family-owned Sutter Home Family Vineyards does so naturally, it makes sense to serve Sutter Home Family Vineyards Wines at our holiday gatherings. Since 2004, the California based Sutter Home Family Vineyards has received over 350 gold medals for their quality wines at affordable prices. Sutter Home Family Vineyards is the perfect wine to bring people together and make them feel at home during the holidays. Plus, it's made right here in California!

My parents absolutely loved the spicy, tangy goat cheesepiñata cheese ball paired with the Sutter Home Pinot Grigio and Sutter Home Moscato. We sampled this dish at Thanksgiving and my mom loved it so much, she took an extra bottle of Sutter Home Pinto Grigio home to enjoy with friends on a horse back riding camping trip she was taking the rest of the weekend!

How to make a piñata cheese ball

I pulled flavors from our Latin family traditions and roots to create this unique piñata cheese ball recipe. One of my husband's favorite ways to get Mexican flavors into foods is to use menudo mix. Yes, menudo mix! It's our secret ingredient in guacamole and in this piñata cheese ball . The key to make a piñata cheese ball is to create a shell of cheese that looks like a cheese ball on the outside but is separated from the filling on the inside so that when you cut into the cheese ball, the filling can freely spill out of the cheese ball, giving it a piñata effect.

We mixed the menudo mix with other spices and used it to coat the inside of the goat cheese shell to keep the filling from sticking to the sticky goat cheese. You can use any combination of spices to make your own DIY piñata cheese ball but keep in mind you'll need spices or nuts to coat the cheese to get that piñata effect when cutting into the cheese ball.

Line a small glass bowl (about 5″ diameter) with plastic wrap.Roll the goat cheese between two sheets of wax paper, to about 1/2″ thick.Peel away the wax paper and press the goat cheese sheetinto the bowl.

Using a spoon, press goat cheese into the cracks formed in the sheet and all the way to the top edge of the bowl. Smooth the goat cheese layer to about 1/2″ thick over the entire inside of the bowl.

Press plastic wrap onto the goat cheese and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the cheese.

Mix the menudo mix, chili flakes, and cumin together. Set aside.Diced the sun-dried tomatoes and mix the ingredients for the filling together. Set aside.

Remove the cheese from the fridge. Remove the plastic wrap from inside the bowl.Sprinkle the goat cheese with the spice mixture until completely covered. Carefully dump out any extra spice mixture from the center of the cheese dome.

Fill the center of the cheese dome with the filling mixture. Level the filling mixture with the top of the bowl. Place a plate on the top of the bowl, upside-down. Flip the plate and bowl so that the bowl is now upside-down on the plate.Carefully separate the glass bowl from the layer of plastic wrap and goat cheese.Carefully peel the plastic wrapfrom the goat cheese ball dome.

Sprinkle the remaining spice mix over the goat cheese, pressing it into the sticky cheese.Cut away a wedge of the goat cheese to reveal the filling, spilling out onto the plate.Drizzle with honey and serve with crackers.

Watch this video to see how to make thispiñata cheese ball recipe from start to finish:

I was absolutely giddy with excitement about how thispiñata cheese ball recipe turned out! It was actually easier than I thought it would be to make and definitely easier than apiñata cake. Get the printable recipe here:

Print

Thispiñata cheese ball would make a great star appetizer for your next holiday gathering, for sure! Serve it with a variety of Sutter Home Family Vineyard Wines for a truly elevated, holiday experience.

Find out more about Sutter Home Family Vineyards:

• Sutter Home Family Vineyards website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Youtube
• Pinterest
• Instagram

What are your favorite holiday entertaining traditions? Share them in the comments below!