Baked Brie

[Pumpkin Lover]

For my Friends get-together last night, I made a baked brie en croute. I admit that I cheated a little bit--my base recipe came from Pepperidge Farm's Puff Pastry website; I had seen commercials for baked brie on FoodTV, and those started a craving that I couldn't help satisfying. However, I improvised: I found on Epicurious a recipe that called for topping a brie with caramelized onions, and another recipe on the PF website that called for splitting a brie in half and stuffing it with jam. Also, Sara Moulton had a recipe where she split a brie in half and stuffed it with more cheese.

So, I split my brie in half (it was a leftover semi-circle, probably half a pound), and put down a layer of caramelized onions. Wrapped the whole thing in PF PP, and an hour later, I had a very rich and gooey cheese. It really impressed everyone last night.

Now I wonder--when did baked brie first become popular? It actually strikes me as an older type of dip--maybe the seventies? I have no idea, but it's so good that I wonder why I don't see it more often. Also--has anyone tried putting jam with baked brie? I might try to do that--I might even try to put some fresh berries in there along with the jam. It sounds excellent. What are all your recipes for this cheesy delight?

[Carolyn Tillie]

I can't tell you the history, but regarding the jam thing, when I was in Britain I was served a baked brie topped with chutney. Pretty interesting...

I usually serve it with the caramelized onions as well, although I add tons and tons of garlic as well. I might also add a dollop of pesto.

[thursdaynext]

One of BHG's appetizer magazines featured a recipe that always gets raves when I serve it. In addition to the carmelized onions, the cheese is topped with apricot spread and toasted hazelnuts. The whole is wrapped in phyllo, instead of puff pastry. You can find the recipe here.

[FoodMan]

Ok, this is really weird. For mother’s Day my in-laws and some other family members are coming over and requested some type of beef stew, so I opted for a beef Bourignone (sp?) with pearl onions and mushrooms. To go with the retro French theme , for an appetizer, I am planning on making individual bite size pieces of baked Brie en crout with …onion marmalade . I was not aware that the caramelized onion thing is a very common with baked Brie it just sounded like a great combination especially when I saw these wonderful Vidalia’s at the store. As for the Brie, I’m going to stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so to make cubing it easier, then I will roll and cut 2inch PF PP and wrap around the cheese cubes like wrapping a gift then bake. The only question is do I include a dollop of the onion marmalade in there or do I serve it on the side?

[Marlene]

I understand what PP is, but what's PF?

[dscott]

Ok, this is really weird. For mother’s Day my in-laws and some other family members are coming over and requested some type of beef stew, so I opted for a beef Bourignone (sp?) with pearl onions and mushrooms. To go with the retro French theme , for an appetizer,  I am planning on making individual bite size pieces of baked Brie en crout with …onion marmalade . I was not aware that the caramelized onion thing is a very common with baked Brie it just sounded like a great combination especially when I saw these wonderful Vidalia’s at the store. As for the Brie, I’m going to stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so to make cubing it easier, then I will roll and cut 2inch  PF PP and wrap around the cheese cubes like wrapping a gift then bake. The only question is do I include a dollop of the onion marmalade in there or do I serve it on the side?

Have not done the individual portions but have done baked brie (pas en croute) several times w/ onion marmalade. It is a delicious combo.

IMO, I would serve the marmalade on the side of the individual pieces.

[Pumpkin Lover]

PF=Pepperidge Farm. I didn't want to keep writing it out.

I bet that onion confit would work really well! If only I had a crockpot....

And garlic sounds really good, too.

[Marlene]

Ah. I must see if I can get that here. And it so happens, I have a crockpot full of onion confit on the go as I type. Hmmmmmm......

[Marlene]

Marvellous. I found the PF PP at Bruno's. They also had TenderFlake PP, but I got the PF. I picked up a nice round of double cream Brie and my confit is cooking away. So all I have to do is wrap the pastry around the Brie (after layering in the confit or whatever, and bake it? For how long?

[mdt]

Brie baked in PP is nice, but I think a wheel of brie baked inside of brioche is even better! Yum! Give that a try sometime and see what you think.

[Pumpkin Lover]

So all I have to do is wrap the pastry around the Brie (after layering in the confit or whatever, and bake it?  For how long?

Marlene: I wrapped it up, egg-washed it, and baked it at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. The PF recipe said that after baking, it should stand for 40 mins. I didn't like that idea--I wanted my cheese to be as melty as possible when I sliced it, so instead of letting it stand outside, I turned off the oven and let the Brie sit in the oven for about a half-hour. Then, I let it stand outside for 10 mins. The cheese was runny enough, but it cooled down to solid after about 15-20 of sitting outside. So, you can basically control the runniness by letting it sit in a warm or cool environment for however long you want.

[Marlene]

All right! It'll be tomorrow by the time my confit is done, so this will make a lovely Saturday afternoon snack for us. Thanks! I shall report back.

[Malawry]

I was not aware that the caramelized onion thing is a very common with baked Brie it just sounded like a great combination especially when I saw these wonderful Vidalia’s at the store.

FYI, Vidalias are excellent raw, but when you cook them they lose almost all their flavor. Use the cheaper ordinary yellow onions for caramelizing. Maybe you could top each of the croutes with a little dab of Vidalia onion relish or some such if you really want to get the Vidalias in there.

I generally don't believe much in doctoring up my cheeses, but there's something that really appeals to me about baked brie with condiments. In college I used to bake brie with a splash of amaretto and top it with sliced almonds. I may make this for a special dinner I'm doing for my girls next week...they've hinted at an affinity for brie.

[ElfWorks]

i dont know how old this concept is, but i have been doing it in one form or another for AT LEAST twenty years maybe 25... for parties i do a sweet and a savory one. split in half and filled then recovered and topped and then wrapped. during the holiday season, i use cranberry relish for my sweet. i also do a butter and cinnamon and nuts one. ive stuffed brie with fig preserves, onion confit or just sauteed onions and garlic, tomato confit, salsa, asparagus, and i could go on and on. go wild!

xo

[ruthcooks]

My favorite way with Brie is to heat slightly, then top with browned butter and almond slivers or slices which have been browned in the butter. Great with miniature toasted bagels.

[tissue]

Has anyone had this with apple? I saw a recipe for this with apple slices baked with it.

[Schielke]

The first time I had it was when I was about 6 years old at a christmas party back east. That was about 19 years ago.

I became my favorite food immediately.

[Jake]

I've been doing one for a number of years topped with garlic and sundried tomatos in EVOO. Sometimes wrapped, sometimes not. Had unexpected company about 15 years aga and those were the only things in the fridge!

[Pumpkin Lover]

All right!  It'll be tomorrow by the time my confit is done, so this will make a lovely Saturday afternoon snack for us.  Thanks!  I shall report back.

I can't tell you how excited I am that this thread inspired you to make the Brie! I feel like a true member of eG now.

[Wolfert]

i dont know how old this concept is, but i have been doing it in one form or another for AT LEAST twenty years maybe 25...

I think brie in brioche is an old recipe. There is a variation in southwest france called Le Gatis which combine Cantal and Roquefort cheeses.

[mklynch]

We used to make a ton of variations - cranberry, roasted garlic, sundried tomato, pesto, (not all together!) even SW versions w/ cilantro and salsa, practicaly anything you can think up we'd stuff in the middle of the brie and wrap.

Always froze them first and baked them in a hot oven straight from the freezer, they are done when they look done and the cheese tends not to ooze out as much as baking room temp = a plus on a buffet line.

[ElfWorks]

Has anyone had this with apple? I saw a recipe for this with apple slices baked with it.

yes!

xo

[tissue]

Was this good?

[Pumpkin Lover]

Was this good?

Tissue: I remember now an appetizer that a friend of mine made. She took those pre-made Pillsbury croissants, and wrapped up an apple slice and slice of Brie in the dough and baked them off. They were delicious.

She used green apples; it might be best to use a less juicy apple.

[bobmac]

My wife came up with something we like: bake the brie, not enclosed in anything, with toasted macadamia nuts, then pour some honey over the whole thing, let it sit awhile and spread on thin slices of a baguette (sometimes I crisp them in the oven), accopmanied by thin slices of Granny Smith apple.