December 16, 2008

Brie is Proof That God Loves Us and Wants Us To Be Happy

I love brie cheese so much that I normally can't make any recipes with it because I usually end up eating it prior to cooking with it. However, for a recent get together, I used all the willpower I had and didn't eat the brie right out of the fridge so that I could make a baked brie appetizer.
My baked brie looked a little ugly because I was impatient with the puff pastry, but the looks are more than made up for in the gooey, sweet, savory, perfect flavor!

Baked Brie


½ Package (i.e., 1 sheet) Frozen Puff Pastry
1 egg
¼ cup dried cherries or cranberries chopped into tiny pieces
¼ cup toasted pecan pieces
¼ cup honey
½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary)
1 teaspoon hot water
1 small- to medium-sized round Brie cheese

Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature until it's easy to handle (about 1 hour).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. When defrosted, unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface and roll the pastry sheet with a rolling pin to seal any cracks in the pastry that may have occurred if you were impatient and unfolded it before it was ready (like I did). Be sure to roll it well (not like I did) if you want it to look pretty.

Stir the diced cherries or cranberries, pecan pieces, honey, rosemary and hot water in a small bowl. Spread the cherry mixture into the center of the pastry square and then top with the cheese round.

Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork and then brush the edges of the pastry with the egg.

Begin wrapping the pastry over the cheese, trimming the pastry as needed to avoid too much dough in one place. Press the edges together to seal the pastry. Place the wrapped cheese seam-side down on an ungreased baking sheet and then brush the pastry with the beaten egg. If desired, decorate the top with pastry scraps (don’t forget to brush the decorations with the egg.)
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is deep golden brown. Let stand for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with crackers or thin slices of French bread.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

God does love us! mmmm cheeese

Misty said...

You know how you have never heard of something and then you hear it ten times in a week? I had never heard of this and this makes the third time in about 4 days I have heard about this recipe. Crazy! Maybe it's a sign I should make it.

Anonymous said...

Your baked brie looks amazing! We should get together soon...xo