Baked Brie with Cranberries and Hot Honey | A Holiday Appetizer
THE PRINTABLE IS LINKED BELOW ⬇️
A whole wheel of brie wrapped in homemade rough puff pastry, filled with honey cranberries and finished with hot honey from the last chilies in my garden. It looks like it took all day. It didn't, and I'll show you why.
The full video walks you through every step, and the printable recipe is right here:
Why rough puff
Classic puff pastry takes a block of butter, a lot of rolling and most of a day. Rough puff gets you those flaky layers with far less work. You toss cold cubes of butter into the flour, bring it together with ice water and fold it like a letter a few times.
The butter stays in streaks and chunks, and that's the whole point. In a hot oven those streaks turn to steam and push the layers apart. If the butter disappears into the flour, you get tender pastry but no flakes.
Keep the butter cold from the start
As soon as the dough is roughly gathered, wrap it and chill it for 20 minutes, before you roll it at all. Your hands warm the butter while you mix, and that short rest lets it firm back up before the first fold.
After that it's two letter folds, a 20 minute chill, then two more folds. Four in all. If you'd like rosemary in the pastry, scatter it over the dough before the last two folds. I left it out this time, but it's a lovely option with the cranberries.
Let the chill times do the work
This is what makes it doable in a busy holiday week. The cranberries cook while the dough has its second chill, and the last two folds happen while the cranberries cool. Nothing sits waiting on anything else.
Then the dough rests overnight in the fridge, which relaxes it so it rolls out without shrinking back. If you need it the same day, give it at least 2 hours.
You can also make the dough well ahead. Wrap it in plastic, seal it in a freezer bag and use it within 6 weeks. Thaw it overnight in the fridge, and please never thaw pastry dough of any kind on the countertop.
Hot honey, as hot as your table likes
Garden chilies vary a lot in heat, so choose by who will be eating it. If your people aren't heat lovers, cut a chili in half, take out the seeds and pith, and use only half of it. Want more? Use both halves, then add a third half. For the most heat, leave the pith in.
For the most control, cut a slit in a whole chili and drop it into the honey, then pull it out when the heat is right. For a garlic version, crush a clove and let it steep with the chilies. The garlic and chilies both come out before you serve.
One note: honey is not safe for babies under one year old.
The finishing touches
Leaves cut from the pastry scraps make this look like it came from a bakery. Cut them with a plunge leaf cutter, or freehand with a paring knife. Then flip the knife over and press the back of the blade into each leaf to mark the veins.
Brush everything with egg wash, chill it 15 minutes while the oven heats to 400°F, and bake until it's deep golden. Mine took 27 minutes. Let it rest 10 to 15 minutes before cutting, or the brie floods out.
Serve it on a white plate
Floral plates set a beautiful table, but the food itself belongs on white. A white plate lets the golden pastry, the deep red cranberries and the bright apple slices be the art.
Set it out with apple slices and crackers, and let someone else make the first cut. That ooze is the best part of the party.
Get the printable recipe here: CLICK HERE
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