Store-bought puff pastry makes this elegant baked Brie a cinch to pull off. (But that can be our little secret.)–The Editors at America’s Test Kitchen

A wheel of brie cheese baked pastry, on top is a dollop of apricot preserves

Baked Brie en Croûte

5 from 1 vote
This baked Brie en croûte is an easy, elegant appetizer made by wrapping puff pastry around Brie, baking until golden, and topping with sweet preserves. Looks fancy, tastes sophisticated, seems so simple to toss together.
David Leite
CourseAppetizers
CuisineFrench
Servings8 servings
Calories290 kcal
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients 

  • One sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • One wheel firm Brie cheese
  • 1/4 cup apricot preserves or hot pepper jelly, (or other fruit preserves or chutney)
  • Cracker or bread, (optional)

Instructions 

  • Roll the puff pastry into a 12-inch square on a lightly floured counter. Using a pie plate or other round guide, trim the pastry to a 9-inch circle with a paring knife. Brush the edges lightly with the beaten egg.
  • Place the Brie in the center of the pastry circle and lift the pastry up and over the cheese, pleating it at even intervals and leaving an opening in the center where the Brie will be exposed. (Don’t worry if your pleats aren’t perfect.) Press the pleated edge of pastry up into a rim, which will later be filled with preserves or jelly.
  • Brush the exterior of the pastry with beaten egg and transfer it to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: Don’t skip the freezing. It takes only 20 minutes and ensures the Brie doesn’t melt too much during baking while still allowing it to become just the right amount of oozy.

  • Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
  • Bake the cheese until the exterior is a deep golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
  • Transfer to a wire rack. Spoon the jelly into the exposed center of the Brie. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Serve with crackers or bread.
The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Adapted From

The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 290 kcalCarbohydrates: 19 gProtein: 9 gFat: 20 gSaturated Fat: 8 gMonounsaturated Fat: 9 gTrans Fat: 0.003 gCholesterol: 52 mgSodium: 266 mgFiber: 0.5 gSugar: 4 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2005 America’s Test Kitchen. Photo © 2005 Carl Tremblay. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

If you want to dazzle folks and have next to no time, this is the recipe you need! I had brunch guests over this morning. While washing up the dishes, I pulled out my thawed puff pastry, prepared it as directed, and tossed it in the freezer. After my guests left, I grabbed my chilled cheese and pastry, brought it over to family’s house, and tossed it in the oven. Just 25 minutes later, we were gathered round a platter of gooey warm cheese. Everyone was thrilled! Even my husband, who claims to not like Brie, was delighted by this.

If serving with other accoutrements, I would say it could feed 8 folks. We were just having it with warm baguette. Five of us killed it in no time. We will definitely make this many more times.

I used Dufour puff pastry. I used apricot preserves and also served with fig jam. It was so gooey and gorgeous.

This was delicious. I used Dufour puff pastry and peach pepper jelly. It wasn’t spicy at all and I would use a straight pepper jelly in the future.

I would make it again but I would be more careful with the pastry, mine might have gotten too warm when wrapping the Brie because it got sticky. I also would need to practice the pleating because apparently I’m not good at that.

I took it out of the oven and put the jelly in and it immediately sank into the cheese. Honestly, it was great for the taste but I think I could have doubled the amount of jelly and it would have been even better.

The taste was amazing but it was still super runny even after sitting for longer than 30 minutes so it might need to sit for an hour or so before cutting into it, so it’s gooey but not liquidy.

The combination of apricot jam and Brie was really good and the recipe was easy to execute. Someone here was skeptical about the hole in the middle but I told her to stay optimistic and we were rewarded. The hole was perfectly sized for the jam.

I used Dufour brand pastry and Alouette Brie and apricot preserves

For the Dufour brand, you definitely don’t need to roll it as much. There were a lot of scraps that you can turn into twists (savory with cheese or cinnamon sugar for cookies).

After 30 minutes resting, the cheese was still gooey and the apricot jam had become more glass-like.

Great recipe to bring to a party. I have made different versions of this recipe in the past, I was curious to try it with pepper jelly. Great recipe and easy to do, although I had a tough time making everyone wait for the cheese to cool before trying.

I used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry and made it with hot pepper jelly.

After cooling for 30 min, the cheese was still gooey and warm.

I love “retro” recipes like this one. It was easy to make and brought back fond memories of dinner parties gone by.

I used a good puff pastry. The hardest part of the whole process is remembering to defrost the pastry. Assembly was less than 5 minutes once everything was ready. After chilling out in the freezer for 20 minutes, it was baked it for 20 minutes. Another 5 minutes more in the oven would not have ruined it but I liked the golden color it was.

I put ginger-peach preserves in the center. (It was the closest I had to apricot.) After 30 minutes cooling, we dug in. The cheese was as ooey and gooey as it’s supposed to be. The ginger-peach preserves complemented the richness of the pastry and cheese nicely. We tried both bread and some artisan crackers and found most of us preferred the crackers. One didn’t care which he had as long as he got some more.

We had 4 servings and there was none left. I don’t think this could stretch to 8 to 10 servings unless you had a 2nd one in the oven as you served the first one. I mean, let’s face it, I don’t know anyone who is dainty when eating delicious melty cheese. We liked this recipe so much we are adding it to our New Year’s Eve spread.

I would recommend using a tart or spicy preserve as the cheese is quite rich and you need that tartness to cut it a bit.

This is a handy recipe for entertaining when you want something both tasty and attractive and your nerves are in the state where a complicated recipe may send you back to bed. Reasonably quick, hard to screw up, and enjoyed by all who tried it. I do need some practice on pleating puff pastry dough, however. My final product did look a little different from the picture.

I used Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry and apricot preserves. I think I might prefer it with hot pepper jelly but I couldn’t find hot pepper jelly in my immediate locale. Whether slightly sweet or slightly spicy might depend on the rest of the menu.

Sitting for 30 minutes after baking still made the Brie gooey and melted.

This is a quick and spiffy way to serve warm cheese to some very happy guests! People devoured it.

I used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets and apricot jelly with what was definitely a very unripe round of Brie, which surprised me by still getting nice and gooey. I baked this for 20 minutes.

This recipe was just perfect as-is and I think it has lots of room for variation. I’d love to try it for a brunch by including a layer of ham around the brie or by layering in thin apple slices on top.

This is a decadent show stopper for a gathering, even if you’re an amateur with puff pastry…so even though it looks complicated and fancy, don’t let that stop you!

I made this twice, both times with the same Ile de France Brie and Pepperidge Farm puff pastry.

The first time I prepared it using Terrapin Ridge Farm’s Hot Pepper Raspberry Preserves and the second time with Sweetly Divine’s Cranberry Jalapeno Hot Pepper Jelly. Both were absolutely spectacular.

Ensure you follow the instructions to freeze prior to baking AND to wait at least 20 minutes after baking. The first time I couldn’t contain my guests and they dove in 10 minutes after I removed the Brie from the oven and it just oozed out all over the place.

The second time we waited 20 minutes and the ensemble held its shape beautifully.

Although the directions didn’t state to slice off the top of the cheese, I did as I find this more aesthetically pleasing.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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Recipe Rating




2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    David and staff, this recipe is amazing! I add sauteed shallots to the apricot preserves before topping. The combo is AWESOME to say the least. Great ‘anytime’ recipe, but especially delicious when serving dinner guests and dinner is two hours away! LoL! Yummy.