Brie en Croûte (Brie in Puff Pastry)

Note: 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. 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.

1 pound of puff pastry
1 wheel (8 oz. and 4" in diameter), well chilled
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp. water

Roll out the pastry a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Chill dough until firm.

Cut out one 6-inch circle and one 7-inch circle. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. Gather scraps of dough into a ball; refrigerate 30 minutes.

Roll out trimmings of dough to 1/8 inch thick. Freeze until very cold but not frozen. Use pastry cutters or a sharp knife to make cutouts for decorating top of puff pastry (stems, leaves, flowers, grapes, etc.). Freeze decorations until firm.

Place the 6 inch circle of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place the wheel of cheese in the center. Brush water around the border from cheese to edge of pastry. Cover with the 7 inch circle of puff pastry. Press dough on the dough around the base of cheese with fingertips to seal edges of dough together. Firm dough in freezer 10 minutes, no longer. You do not want to freeze the cheese.

When the dough with the cheese is well chilled, cut a scallop pattern at the edge of the pastry with a sharp knife. Create a hollow aluminum foil tube (a chimney) by wrapping a 1-inch by 1 1/2-inch strip of foil 2 or 3 times around a pencil;butter exterior of foil with butter and remove pencil. Cut a 1/4-inch hole in center of top layer of pastry and fit buttered tube into it. This will allow steam from inside pastry to escape. Brush cutout decorations with water and apply in an attractive pattern on top. Return to freezer for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove pastry round from freezer, and brush top with egg wash. Take care not to drip any down sides of pastry. Bake until golden brown, 20 - 25 minutes. Cool for 30 - 45 minutes before cutting. If served immediately, cheese will run out when pastry is cut. Serve as is or with a jam or jelly sauce. Some recipes call for adding fruit to the inside of the pastry. See Brie en Croûte with Cherries and Pistachios.

Serves 4 as a main appetizer.

Note: you can make this using a 16 oz. 8" diameter wheel. Use 2 pounds of puff pastry and cut your pastry into one 10-inch circle and one 11-inch circle. I have also made this using a triangular piece of Brie and cut the pastry accordingly. I cut the scraps into thin strips of dough which I used to decorate it.