How to Bake a Whole Brie (no puff pastry)

Nothing says let’s party like a baked brie. Making a baked brie (or a baked camembert, brie's slightly more intense soft-rind cousin, or anything in this small format, soft-ripened category) can be as simple as tossing the cheese in the oven with some kind of drizzled topping, or you can go all out by serving it en croûte—wrapping it up in puff pastry with any number of store-bought or homemade sweet condiments. See recipes, Brie en Croûte and Brie en Croûte w/ Cherries & Pistachios

Any small bloomy rind cheese, preferably a triple cream, will work here, it doesn’t have to be the most expensive wheel of cheese in the case. If possible, use a triple-cream bloomy rind cheese, which has a higher fat content than a double-cream cheese and melts better. Add some seasonal fruit, nuts, honey, or jam and your guests might never leave.

A common complaint with baked brie is that the wheel fails to melt, or even ends up rubbery. When baking brie, remembering a few key things will encourage good melting. The first is to score or remove some of the top rind. Your brie or camembert wheel comes in a bloomy rind, which, while perfectly edible, can vary in thickness and texture from one wheel to the next. When you cut through that rind, the interior of the cheese can get better exposure to the heat, and air can escape in a controlled manner. That's a good thing, since you don't want your cheese to explode in the oven.

Second, don't overcook the brie. Twenty to 25 minutes in a 350°F (180°C) oven without the puff pastry crust, or up to 35 minutes with it, should be enough to heat the cheese through. In fact, overcooking it, especially if you haven't cut the rind, may actually re-harden the cheese and make it tough and unappetizing.

If your wheel came in a thin wooden container, you can bake it straight in that. (Don't forget to remove the paper wrapper, though!) We recommend that you set the container on some parchment paper on a baking tray, just in case. Some wheels will be packaged in a cardboard container, which we don't recommend putting in the oven. Instead, you can bake it directly on the parchment, or use a small oven-safe dish.

This baked brie is simple, just score the rind. Bake in a preheated 350°F (180°C) oven until top is soft and runny, about 25 minutes. And that's it. Top it with toasted pistachios and a little drizzled honey for a touch of sweetness.

After baking, serve with crackers, baguette, or thinly sliced apple.