The Cheese Ball Volcano

At many of our entertaining events we provide the volcano cheese ball. Every time we serve it everyone wants to know if we bought it, otherwise they want the recipe. Well the recipe has been on this website for a few years and can be found here. It is called Strawberry-Cheese Horseshoe/Volcano. It is our mother’s recipe and is so easy you will never want to buy a cheese ball from the grocery store again. It only takes 15 minutes to make and then you just chill it until ready to use. This is an easy make-in-advance appetizer.

My variations/suggestions on the original recipe are the following: I never use store bought grated cheese. This is a cheese ball and good cheese makes the ball. I select a quality white and orange colored sharp cheddar block and grate it myself in a 50/50 mixture. You will notice the difference. Next, I would not recommend using non-fat versions of mayonnaise. They tend to be oily and the volcano will soon shrink to a blob as it warms up. I do not use a whole jar of strawberry jam. I use about 1/2 cup and add more as the jam disappears. This is great without jam as well, but the combination of the sweet fruity jam with the tangy cheese makes it taste so delicious. I typically form this into a ball once made and put it on wax paper in a plastic storage container where it goes into the refrigerator to chill. Once it is ready to use I form the volcano or horseshoe shape then fill the depression with jam, allowing it to spill over the cheese like a volcano. If your guests like their food a little spicy, then double the cayenne pepper.

Once you make this you will agree that there is no reason to buy the poor quality cheese balls you find in the store. You and your guests will appreciate the difference.