Brie en Croute

A Christmas party is something we always look forward to hosting. Having friends and family join us to share the joy of the season is a highlight of our year. We enjoy the company and do our best to have an array of food dishes that are festive and appropriate for this gathering in the holiday season.

There is a significant amount of preparation required for this party every year, so careful planning is the first step in making sure the event is a success. Each of the food items cannot take hours to assemble. There needs to be balance not only in the type of food but also in the time needed to get it ready to be served

A wonderful first offering to get the party off on a bright note is a Brie en Croute. This is quick, easy to prepare and is an interesting use for Brie (generally a dessert cheese) to start the party

Holiday Brie en Croute

Ingredients:
Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets
1 Brie Cheese round about 2.5 lb
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. half & half

Preparation:
Roll out the 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry on a floured board
Cut corners of the pastry to make a circle roughly 24 inches in diameter
Place the wheel of Brie in the center of the pastry
Gather the pastry evenly around the Brie with a bundle on the top
Tie the bundle of dough with cotton twine to hold it in place and together
Trim excess dough and chill the cheese on a parchment lined baking sheet for 1 hour

Cooking
Preheat oven to 400’
Step 1.Combine egg yolk and half & half and brush on top of pastry
Step2. Bake till pastry puffs and is golden brown about (35 minutes)
Step 3. Keep an eye on the baking and reduce temp if it is browning too quickly
Step 4. Cool Brie on a rack for 20 minutes

Serve warm, accompanied with water crackers or those of your preference.

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Note:

The Brie I call for in the recipe will be appropriate for a party of 15-20 people with the other Hors d'Oeuvres being served. For a smaller gathering use a 1 lb Brie. There are recipes that call for apricot preserves, cranberries and toasted almonds on the Brie before the pastry encloses it and it is placed in the oven. We have tried these recipes through the years and have settled on the unadorned Brie en Croute recipe. The preserves and other ingredients are often messy and really unneeded to create this impressive start for the evening..
I think it was a Martha commentary that convinced us to try this classic presentation. She was right –as usual with Hors d’Oeuvres.