The first time I tried brie I was a little skeptical. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE cheese but this one looked a little funky when my aunt Sherri, the Wine and Cheese Queen, first introduced it to me. Brie is one of those cheeses that you don't unwrap the plastic wrap from (ie American slices) or it doesn't come shredded and ready to put on your taco. Brie is one of those kinda intimidating cheeses they keep the in special section of the grocery store deli mixed in with all the other fancy imported cheeses from around the world. All brie is is soft cow's cheese....with a little bit of a rind. So back to the first time that I had brie. My aunt is usually assigned the appetizers during family gatherings and it ALWAYS includes some kind of cheese plate. One night, I watched her put a wheel of brie in a little ramekin, put some preserves on top (I think it might have been fig at that time), put sliced almonds on top of that, then popped it in the oven for a bit. Hey...I could go for this...who doesn't like melty oozy cheese? When it was ready, I was instructed to put it on a plain cracker and dig in. I must admit, I dug into that cheese more than a few times.
When I started looking for puff pastry recipes, I noticed a lot of recipes for brie on croute. Brie on croute is just a fancy name for wrapping a brie cheese wheel in puff pastry. There are so many versions of this recipe because you can wrap almost anything in it....from apricots to raspberry to guava to mushrooms and parsley... with the brie. I wasn't too sure about wrapping a whole wheel of brie in puff pastry because to be honest with you, I've tried brie on a lot of different stuff but I really only like it when it's cut with some kind of fruit. Plus, I didn't want to make a whole wheel either just in case I did like it and ended up eating the whole thing myself. Cheese coma would be bad. So I came up with an alternative.
Brie with Raspberries on Croute Minis
Preheat oven to 350. Lay thawed puff pastry sheet on lightly flour dusted surface and cut in 3 inch squares (size depends on the size of your muffin pan). Lay squares in greased muffin pan and shape into cups.
Place a small cube of brie in the middle of the puff pastry then top brie with a teaspoon of raspberry preserves. Top with sliced almonds for crunch.
Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until the edges are golden. Cool for about 5-10 minutes.
So here's my Sueshine disclaimer. I said was going to be honest with you when it comes to recipes that I'm trying for the first time. I did not remove the rind from the brie because most of the recipes I read on the Internet said not to. For the bite sized version, remove the rind. I think my palette is changing again because I didn't use to mind so much but since I'm baking for an audience now, I know a lot of you will not be able to handle the "funk." I've got your back so do yourself a favor and remove it. It was good but I KNOW it would be better without it. I'll have to try this recipe again some time without it and try a different fruit, although raspberries are my favorite.
This is a good source for someone who likes to bake every once in a while for yourself and some freinds, a class, or even co-workers! I made the Bannana Foster today with some classmates and we enjoyed it!
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