Year-round, we love a Nordic-slash-Californian esthetic: minimal elegance, simple shapes, and a focus on allowing natural elements to shine in a way that helps us feel close to the earth. We love our Scandinavian bloggers too – with their healthful recipes and stunningly simple kitchens, the women living in that cozy, northern corner of the world seem to have ‘minimal chic’ on lock. California too has a healthy, effortless chic all its own and when you join the two together something truly magical – and very Chalkboardy – happens.

During the holidays, our love for that minimal elegance comes centerstage. As the foods get more elaborate, the house more crowded, and holiday decor covers everything, we crave ways to simplify the look of things. There’s no better time than the holiday hustle for us to embrace our obsession with simple, Scandinavian-style home goods.

Recently, we spent an afternoon with Swedish blogger and cookbook author Marita Karlson making these gorgeous holiday chocolate truffles. These raw chocolates are as elaborate-looking as things get. The key with plating recipes this lavish is to keep the servingware simple and chic and Marita and I had more fun garnishing and plating up these stunning truffles on the IKEA dinnerware than we had making them!

We placed half the truffles in one long line on an elegant ceramic tray (one can never have enough trays – or maybe they can and we do,) the other half we nestled like the little treasures they are in this bowl with shallow curves, similar to what we’re seeing in top chefs’ kitchens everywhere right now. Another perfect idea for plating up holiday treats like these is to use the wooden cutting boards used for prep as boards for display on a side table or buffet. IKEA has wooden cutting boards in every size and shape – we keep several in different sizes on hand at all times for both shoots and entertaining.The wooden cutting board pictured above is the perfect size for one batch of truffles, a solid cheese plate, or healthy crudite.

These delicious, rose-spiked raw truffles are the perfect indulgence for the upcoming party season. Whether added to the post-feast dessert table on Thanksgiving alongside pie and coffee or served with a tray full of champagne for holiday house-warming parties, they look incredible, taste indulgent… and are actually nutritious.

As impressive as these truffles look, they’re very simple to make and incredibly fun to plate. One zip in the Vitamix or a high-powered blender, a little time in the fridge, and these truffles are ready to garnish. Display them as we have on Scandinavian-chic dinnerware and cutting boards (we love the picks from IKEA below) and you’ve got healthy, glamorous-feeling party food from here to New Year’s Day. The sky is the limit for toppings and garnishes: coordinate them with whatever else you’re serving. Here we’ve used cacao nibs, pistachios, bee pollen, matcha powder, coconut shavings, and crushed rose petals. Isn’t the green tea powder gorgeous?  Other options could be crushed coffee beans, goji berries or ground cinnamon to bring even more  color to the plate. Keep the garnishes colorful and bright, then go Scandinavian style and keep your platings chic, minimal and simple as can be.