Eat, drink and be merry with Puff Pastry Baked Brie or Brie en Croûte,
an easy appetizer for the busy holiday season!
Warm melting cheese wrapped in a buttery, flaky pastry layers is always a crowd-pleaser,
and is easy to pull together when you need an appetizer with a “wow” factor.
I always keep a box or two of puff pastry in the freezer to have on hand for the holidays.
It’s fool-proof with just a little planning ahead for thawing time.
If you’re not familiar with puff pastry, it’s made with the same basic ingredients as pie pastry,
but the dough is folded multiple times to create layers. When baked, steam makes the buttery
layers rise about 8 times higher than pie pastry, hence the term “puff” pastry.
I used some leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving to add a bright, sweet and tart note
to the Brie, but substitute a strawberry, raspberry or cranberry jam or spread,
if you don’t have any cranberry sauce. Fig or apricot preserves would be good too!
Wheels of Brie come in varying sizes. I used an 8 oz. size, but use a larger wheel to serve a crowd.
The rind on the brie is completely edible, but I prefer it without the rind,
so I scrape most of it off before baking.
Baked Brie in Puff Pastry with Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Puff Pastry Sheets(1 sheet), thawed (may need both sheets for larger brie round)
1/2 cup leftover cranberry sauce or jam of choice
1 Brie cheese round
Directions
Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.
Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface.
Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square. Spread the preserves on the pastry in a circle
about 1/2-inch larger than the cheese. Place the cheese on top of preserves in the center of the pastry.
Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal.
Brush the seam with the egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto a prepared baking sheet
lined with parchment paper or Silpat baking mat.
Decorate with the pastry scraps, if desired. I love these decorative plunger-style piecrust cutters.
They’re readily available in all kinds decorative shapes at kitchen stores and craft stores
with the baking supplies. Brush with the egg mixture to adhere pastry scraps
and give the pastry a glossy golden color.
You can prepare wrapped Brie several hours in advance and place in refrigerator until ready to bake.
Pull out and brush with egg wash right before baking in preheated oven.
Just remember to keep it cold until it goes in the oven so when the buttery layers will “puff” when baked.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let Brie stand for 30 minutes so no mouths
are burned and the cheesy goodness firms up some. Serve with apples slices and / or crackers.
Be creative and vary your toppings on your brie; use a combination of brown sugar and chopped pecans,
your favorite fruit jam and almonds, or make a savory version with sun-dried tomatoes,
olive tapenade and toasted pine nuts.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry Cheese Knife / Williams-Sonoma, several years ago
Serving Tray / Fitz and Floyd, 1988
Tartan Tablecloth / HomeGoods, several years ago
You can find 30+ Season’s Eatings Recipes for Holiday Entertaining, HERE,
with recipes for everything from appetizers and party bites, to cocktails and cookies,
food gifts and more!
Puff Pastry Baked Brie with Cranberries
Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper or silicone baking mat
- small leaf cookie cutters if desired
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz, Brie cheese round
- 1 sheet (1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package) frozen Puff Pastry, thawed (may need both sheets for larger brie round)
- ½ cup leftover cranberry sauce or preserves of choice (strawberry, fig, apricot, etc.)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
- Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 12-inch square.
- Spread the preserves / cranberry sauce on the pastry in a circle about 1/2-inch larger than the cheese. Place the cheese on top of preserves / sauce in the center of the pastry.
- Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. Brush the seam with the egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat baking mat.
- Cut leaves of pastry scraps if desired. Brush with the egg mixture to adhere pastry scraps and give the pastry a glossy golden color.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let Brie stand for 30 minutes so no mouths are burned and the cheesy goodness firms up. Serve with apples slices and / or crackers.
Notes
- Wheels of Brie come in varying sizes. I used an 8 oz. size, but use a larger wheel to serve a crowd. The rind on the Brie is completely edible, but I prefer it without the rind, so I scrape most of it off before baking.
- You can prepare wrapped Brie several hours in advance and place in refrigerator until ready to bake. Pull out and brush with egg wash right before baking in preheated oven. Just remember you want to keep it cold until it goes in the oven so when the buttery layers will "puff" when baked.
- Vary your toppings on your Brie; use a combination of brown sugar and chopped pecans, jam and almonds, or make a savory version with sun-dried tomatoes, olive tapenade and toasted pine nuts.
One of my favorites to serve during Christmas. Or any other day. It’s delicious.
Your recipes are not only delicious but beautiful to look at. Definitely going to make this brie and plan to use some hot pepper cranberry jam with it. Thank you for making my holiday entertaining easier.
This recipe I have to try! It’s pouring rain all week here and this would be lovely with cocktails by the fire!
Thanks for sharing such wonderful ideas, Mary!
I like that idea!
Me too!! About once a month hubs and I have, what I call a poo poo platter, and this would be great on that platter with our favorite wines!!! Nice when the tree is finally up and the house decorated so we could enjoy before the holiday bustle begins!! 🍷🍾🍤🧀🍇🥂
Hi I made the same recipe for Thanksgiving but also added toasted cinnamon pecans and brown sugar. It was a huge success with my family!. Hope you had a nice holiday!
Looks delicious. So pretty and festive, too. I think I’ll try this on Christmas Eve. I joined TCM wine club and I’m inundated with wine now!!! I need something tasty like this to go with all that vino.
Bravissima lo replichero’👍😋😋
Anch’io ho la jeep Wrangler dello stesso colore😉
Not a fan of Brie cheese. I would love to make this with another cheese. Any suggestions?
Camembert 🧀
I am definitely trying this one as I normally prepare it with fig preserves but thanks to old man winter our fig bushes were severely damaged so no figs this summer. Must share a funny fig story. The first year our oldest grandsons came for a visit without their parents and the figs were ripe and ready for picking. They helped pick one afternoon eating as they picked. The next morning the youngest who was 5 at the time called to his brother and said let’s go pick more Newtons so in the past when I fixed baked Brie we called it baked Newton. Thanks for demonstrating how to decorate the baked Brie, it certainly is more festive than mine.
Beautiful presentation. I love baked brie and have made it but never decorated it. Yours looks ready for a magazine!
thank you, you took all of the hard wok out of entertaining. Bless you, they look so good.
Shouldn’t that cheese knife say: Eat Drink and Be Mary? LOL Thank you for this recipe as I have always wanted to try this! I hope you and yours had a fabulous holiday weekend!
It’s a true crowd pleaser! I need to get some cute holly leaves like yours!
I’m sure you enjoyed some fine noshing with this beauty Mary! I actually have a small wheel of brie in the fridge, my version won’t include puff pastry but I hope it turns out as tasty as yours:@)
Beautiful and delicious Mary! Genius to use leftover cranberry sauce, I’d love to try this fig jam!
That is so pretty, great way to use up the cranberry sauce, apples are great edition!
Mary, this is one of my favorite appetizers for the holidays. It is easy and always enjoyed. Beautiful presentation!
What can I say? You’re the best in recipes & styling combined. I love that the recipes are relatively easy too. You can make simple look elaborate with how you present it. So nice.
Your appetizer looks so beautiful, Mary! I make a similar one, but with crescent roll dough and a wheel of gouda. My family loves it. I like the idea of using the cutters to make a pretty design on top.
yummy !
I had some for lunch today !!
How very pretty, especially with the holly leaves and berries on top! Looks yummy to. Like the red and green apples on the side. Pinned!
Should be “too”, ha! 🎄
Mary, you always have the BEST recipes and presentations!
I love a recipe that is quick and elegant for those times when guests are dropping by on short notice. This is a perfect recipe for apres ski that all my cabin neighbors will enjoy!
These are always so pretty and well received!