Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
Baked Brie in Puff Pastry: Gooey cheese topped with cranberries, pecans, orange, and rosemary, encased in flaky pastry. Fantastic appetizer!
The holidays are right around the corner and that means parties!
And if you’re going to host a good party you need a few good appetizer recipes. Might I suggest a beautiful baked brie in puff pastry?
It sounds fancy but it’s so easy to make! And this version is loaded with fabulous seasonal flavors. It would be perfect on your buffet, perhaps alongside a tray of coconut shrimp, a basket of airy cheese puffs, and a bowl of chilled crab dip?
Table of Contents
- What is baked brie?
- What’s great about this baked brie recipe
- What does baked brie in puff pastry taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make baked brie in puff pastry
- How to serve baked brie
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my favorite holiday recipes
What is baked brie?
Baked brie can be as simple as just warming a wheel of the creamy, buttery cheese in the oven until melty.
But in this case, we are also wrapping it in buttery pastry that just shatters into a million crispy shards. The contrast of textures is so incredible!
And we’ve also added a blend of fruits, nuts, and spices that brings this dish right into the holiday season.
What’s great about this baked brie recipe
- Tastes amazing: Think of it like a grownup version of grilled cheese.
- Few ingredients: Just a handful of seasonal goodies.
- Easy to make: Only about 10 minutes of active time.
- Elevated: This dish is a little fancier than the everyday.
What does baked brie in puff pastry taste like?
This reminds me of a more grown up version of a grilled cheese sandwich.
There’s ooey-gooey, melty, creamy cheese, of course.
And there’s “bread,” in the form of flaky, buttery puff pastry.
But there’s also a blend of seasonal fruit, nuts, herbs, and spices, that take this appetizer to a whole different level! The cranberries and orange add a tangy sweetness, the nuts a tender crunch, and the herbs and spices are woodsy and a little spicy.
Ingredients
Puff pastry: For what you see here, I used store-bought puff pastry sheets, from the freezer section of my local supermarket. But this would be even more delicious with homemade puff pastry. You’d be surprised how quick and easy it is to make! Check out the details here: Easy Homemade Puff Pastry Recipe.
Brie: Brie is a very soft cheese with a velvety, white rind (which is edible!). It’s made from cow’s milk. You can find it easily in the deli section of your grocery store.
Cranberries: I like a combination of sweetened dried cranberries and fresh or frozen ones. This way, you get some sweeter, chewier bites and some juicy, tangy bites too.
Pecans: Chopped pecans are the most economical! Or you can sub for another type of nut.
Marmalade: Orange marmalade is perfect for this time of year. Try this recipe: Orange Marmalade, or just use store-bought.
Brandy: This ingredient is optional, but I really like the toasty, slightly sweet flavor it lends. You can leave it out, or substitute for water or fruit juice.
Rosemary: Fresh rosemary, leaves only, minced as finely as possible. Nobody wants to bite down on a soapy, resiny hunk of rosemary, but when it’s finely minced it perfumes everything in the loveliest way.
Crushed red pepper: For a little heat. You can add more or less, or leave it out entirely, according to your own taste.
Egg wash: Which is just an egg, beaten with a dribble of water, to loosen it up to a brush-able consistency. Brushing your pastry with egg wash gives it a beautiful shiny, golden-brown finish.
Special equipment
- Small bowl and spoon: In which to mix up the topping.
- Pastry brush: For brushing on the egg wash.
- Baking sheet: On which to bake the brie en croute.
- Parchment paper: To line the baking sheet, so nothing sticks and cleanup is minimal.
How to make baked brie in puff pastry
This is so simple to make, and it only takes about 10 minutes of active time.
Step 1: Mix up the jam
Place the cranberries, pecans, marmalade, brandy, rosemary, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
And stir them together so everything is nicely combined.
Step 2: Assemble the baked brie
Put your wheel of brie in the center of the puff pastry sheet.
Then pile the fruit mixture on top.
Pull the sides of the puff pastry up and over the brie, pleating and folding as necessary to contain the filling.
Finally, brush the outside all over with egg wash.
If you have any scraps, you can use a cookie cutter to cut some decorative pieces and add them on top. I grabbed a simple leaf-shaped cookie cutter and used that.
Step 3: Bake
Slip your pastry-wrapped brie into a hot oven and allow it to bake until it’s crisp and deeply golden brown.
Check out those flaky layers of pastry on the side of my leaf decoration!
Step 4: Cool
The brie cheese inside is like molten lava!
Let things cool for a few minutes before serving, or else your guests will burn their mouths!
How to serve baked brie
Place the golden glory on a serving platter and allow your guests to cut themselves wedges.
This can just be picked up and eaten with your hands, like a sandwich.
Expert tips
Keep it cold: Puff pastry is made up of thin sheets of pastry with butter in between every layer. When the cold butter hits the hot oven, it releases steam. This steam lifts all the layers and splays them out, resulting in a flaky texture unlike anything else. If at any point your pastry seems soft, quickly pop everything into the fridge or freezer to stiffen it back up.
Fully preheat the oven: Make sure your oven is good and hot before you bake your brie!
Keep an eye on it: If at any point your pastry is starting to look too brown in a certain spot, you can rotate the baked brie so it cooks more evenly, and you may even want to cover that part with foil while the rest catches up.
Frequently asked questions
This is usually caused by pastry that’s too warm, an oven that’s not hot enough, or a combination of the two.
Make sure the pastry is icy-cold when it goes into the oven, and that your oven is fully preheated!
If you’d like to prep this ahead, you can do everything right up to the egg wash step, and keep it in the fridge or freezer (tightly wrapped) until it’s closer to the day you’d like to serve it.
This will keep (assembled) in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for a month or two.
Thaw it overnight in the fridge, then an hour or so before you’d like to serve it, start preheating the oven and brush on the egg wash. Then proceed with the remaining steps of the recipe.
Cut the baked brie into 8 equal slices.
Each slice counts as one serving.
The nutritional info in the recipe card below is for 1/8th the entire recipe.
Wrap any leftovers up in foil and stash them in the fridge. They should last for a couple of days, and can be reheated in a 170 degree F oven until warmed through.
A few more of my favorite holiday recipes
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Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (25 g) cranberries, I used a combination of frozen and dried
- 1/4 cup (24.75 g) pecans
- 3 tablespoons (60 g) orange marmalade
- 2 teaspoons (10 g) brandy
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.05 g) rosemary, fresh, finely minced
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 g) crushed red pepper flakes
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) puff pastry, (approx.)
- egg wash, (one egg beaten with a teaspoon or two of water to thin it to a brushable consistency)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Place the cranberries, pecans, marmalade, brandy, rosemary, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl and stir to combine.
- Place the wheel of brie in the center of the sheet of puff pastry, and top the brie with the fruit mixture.
- Fold the sides of the pastry up and over the cheese, pleating and folding as necessary.
- Brush the pastry all over with egg wash, and bake until deeply golden brown and crisp (approx. 50 to 60 minutes.
- Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.
