Brie en Croûte

Thanks to my Cape Cod pal Mary Flynn for this recipe!

Brie en Croûte: 

7 oz. (200 g) pre-packaged frozen puff pastry (see Note) 

1 tbsp. (15 g) unsalted butter

½ c. (125 mL) chopped walnuts

⅛ tsp. (0.6 mL) ground cinnamon

One 8-oz. (250 g) wheel Brie

¼ c. (60 mL) brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

Crackers, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F. Defrost puff pastry overnight or 15-20 minutes at room temperature.  Roll out thinly. Place brie in center of rolled pastry (To test that pastry is rolled thinly enough, cover the top and side of brie with enough pastry to gather above it and tie with kitchen twine. Don’t tie the pastry yet! You’re merely checking that you’ve rolled the pastry to the right size). 

In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Saute walnuts in butter or margarine until golden brown, approximately 5 min. Add cinnamon and stir until walnuts are well coated. Cool. Scrape and slice the top rind from brie. Place the walnut mixture on top of brie centered on pastry. 

Sprinkle brown sugar over butter-walnut mixture. Press pastry edges around brie, gathering at the top. Gently squeeze together excess dough, tying with kitchen twine. Brush beaten egg over top and sides of pastry. Place pastry-wrapped brie on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 20 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown. Serve with crackers.

Note: Depending where you live, puff pastry is packaged very differently. In the time zone where I live, I buy frozen puff pastry in a 14-oz. (400 g) package. For this recipe, I thaw half the package. This recipe may look complicated, but it’s actually very easy to make. Everyone loves it! “Croûte” means “crust” in French. Food that is “en croûte” is wrapped in pastry before it’s baked.