You Deserve a Big Old Brie Skillet
Bree-an-kraut is an unnecessary dish. Brie itself, served unadorned at room temperature, is already delicious: soft and spreading, creamy and slightly funky, a cheese that doesn’t need to be melted.
And yet we melted it.
We don’t just melt it: we spread it on top with jam, brown sugar, or something else sweet and sticky, then wrap it in puff pastry and bake it. Why do we do all this with brie, which is nearly perfect in its simplest form? Because we can. And because it tastes good.
It’s the excess, the extravagance, the extra -ness that makes Baked Brie great for holiday parties and Christmas movie marathons, but there’s no reason you should limit yourself, family or party guests to one wheel of stuff. Plunge into decadence and make yourself a large skillet of baked brie.
Making a full-pan brie – brie en croute-sserole, if you like – is even easier than baking a single wheel. There is no packaging, no leaks, no worry about the brie liquefying and spilling out of the dough during baking. Everything remains in the pan.
The process is so simple that no recipe is required. Remove a sheet of store-bought frozen puff pastry from the freezer and let it thaw. While it’s melting, tuck a bunch of brie into a skillet – cut as needed to completely fill the mold with cheese like in a delicious tangram puzzle – then spread something on top: honey, jam, brown sugar, etc. you. Wrap a sheet of store-bought puff pastry over the cheese, brush with egg liquid and bake until light and golden brown.
For the filling, you can spread, sprinkle, or sprinkle the top of the brie with whatever you like. With so many brie in the game, you don’t owe one flavor profile. You can divide the brie base into thirds or even quadrants, devoting each part to a different filling. (I spread one third with raspberry jam, sprinkle the middle third with brown sugar and bacon bits, and left the last third simple.) Jam, pepper jelly, honey, cranberry sauce, caramelized onions, salted ghee and nuts – all great toppings and brie baked this way gives you enough space to try them all.
By the time you finish these first two steps, the dough should be thawed. (If it unfolds easily, then it’s ready.) Place it on a floured surface and roll it out until it’s large enough to completely cover the brie. Squeeze any excess around the edges of the pan.
Aside from the cheese, pastries, and jam (or whatever toppings you choose), you’ll also need an egg wash to complete the whole thing. Beat one whole egg with one tablespoon of milk, then brush over the dough with it ( mayonnaise works too ). Place it in 400 ℉ oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is dark golden brown.
Let cool for 15 minutes, this is enough time for the cheese to freeze a little. You want your brie to be sticky, creamy and juicy instead of runny and runny. Chop it up and serve with fruit and crackers, or eat directly in a very large skillet. We are making a brief, not a judgment here.