How to Make the Ultimate Cheese-and-Cracker Platter (Into an Edible House)

The Cheese and Cracker House is displayed, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

The Cheese and Cracker House is displayed, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

Photo by: Jason DeCrow ©© 2016, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Jason DeCrow, © 2016, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

The Cheese and Cracker House is displayed, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

At holiday parties big and small, cheese-and-cracker platters are practically required. You can keep them simple with just some slices of your favorite cheddar and kid-friendly crackers, or you can dress them up, offering an array of fresh and funky cheeses and various trimmings. You can even ditch the platter notion altogether and instead opt for home construction when building your cheese-and-cracker setup, like the co-hosts of The Kitchen did on Saturday's episode.

With four walls, a stable roof and even pepperoni shingles, their Cheese-and-Cracker House is the ultimate in party-ready edible entertainment, sure to keep your guests chatting as they pick away at its exterior and interior.

Take a look at the beauty above. Structurally sound and almost completely edible, this masterpiece brings together a whopping five kinds of cheeses — not counting the ready-to-go cheese ball that’s used as interior support — plus breadsticks (exterior logs), pepperoni slices (roof shingles) and pretzel grids (paned windows).

Hosts Marcela Valladolid, Katie Lee and Geoffrey Zakarian demonstrate how to make a Cheese and Cracker House, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

Hosts Marcela Valladolid, Katie Lee and Geoffrey Zakarian demonstrate how to make a Cheese and Cracker House, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

Photo by: Jason DeCrow ©© 2016, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Jason DeCrow, © 2016, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved

Hosts Marcela Valladolid, Katie Lee and Geoffrey Zakarian demonstrate how to make a Cheese and Cracker House, as seen on Food Network's The Kitchen, Season 11.

The secret here is using an often-overlooked ingredient: a can of spray cheese. Just as royal icing acts as glue when you’re building a gingerbread house, this shortcut ingredient will help you stick pieces together as the home is built from the ground — we mean, plate — up.

Want to learn more? Check out the full ingredient list here, and follow the step-by-step directions to build your own Cheese-and-Cracker House for your next holiday get-together.

Related Links:

14 Things You Didn't Know About Geoffrey Zakarian

3 Ways to Infuse Cocktail Flavors Into Party-Time Snack Mixes

How to Make Edible Holiday Centerpieces

Tune in to The Kitchen on Saturdays at 11a|10c.

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