I grew up in a very small town where, by today’s standards, the “exotic” food choices weren’t exotic at all. There were many common foods that I never tried until into my mid-20s. Yet somehow in my early 20s I gained the “Martha Stewart” nickname among my girlfriends, despite being very much a connoisseur of Lean Cuisine and Duncan Hines.

What that really meant was I had a subscription to Martha Stewart Living, I kept my apartment clean, and I could make a mean chocolate chunk cookie and wrap a fancy sheet of puff pastry around a wheel of fancy cheese topped with a mound of caramelized onions. An appetizer that’s still one of my very, very favorite things to eat to this day.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas, those caramelized onions are replaced with a cranberry concoction. The appetizer comes together pretty quickly – place a few generous scoops of cranberry-apricot chutney over top, wrap in puff pastry, pinch the sides to seal, and bake. The end result is a melty, creamy cheese topped with a sweet & tangy sauce, all wrapped in a buttery, flakey crust. I haven’t done the math but I’m pretty sure it’s close to 2500 calories a bite.

A side note: Don’t shoot me… but if you have a lull before the holidays, set aside some time to make homemade puff pastry if you can swing it. We’re talking 20 minutes of hands-on + an hour rest. It’s pretty much just butter and flour but it’s ridiculously amazing. And a side-by-side taste-test with the box from the freezer section proves that it’s totally worth the effort. I made a batch last week, which yields the equivalent of 2 store-bought boxes (4 sheets total) and have 3 sheets left to get me through the holidays.

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Baked Brie with Cranberry-Apricot Chutney

Tangy cranberry-apricot chutney tops a creamy wheel of brie wrapped with flakey, buttery puff pastry.

Ingredients

• Baking spray or cooking oil
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 8 oz (~5.5-inch) wheel brie
• 3/4 cup cranberry-apricot chutney
• 1 egg

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Lightly spray a small baking dish with baking spray or cooking oil. I have a small 6-inch mini-casserole dish that works perfectly - otherwise, just select something that has a slight lip or sides in case your brie tries to make a run for it.
3. Unfold the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it a couple of times each direction.
4. Place the wheel of brie in the center of the dough and top the wheel with cranberry chutney.
5. Fold the sides around the brie, pinching to seal (it may or may not cover the top) and trimming if necessary.
6. Place the wrapped brie in the baking dish.
7. Whisk egg with 1 Tbsp water and brush the dough.
8. Bake for ~25 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Let cool ~10 minutes and transfer to a dish.
10. Serve warm or room temp with crunchy dippers like pita chips and toasted bread.

Notes

Yields: 6-8 servings

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 35 minutes