Baked Brie w/ Puff Pastry
Puff pastry baked brie is one of the more decadent things that you can do with a wheel of cheese and I wouldn't have it any other way! Cheese is one of my favorite things in the world and the holidays provide the perfect excuse to wrap it in heavily buttered pastry. This might look a little bit daunting! But puff pastry is available in freezer section of most grocery stores if you don't want to make it yourself. Dough for crescent rolls or biscuits also work as well. If you do want to make puff pastry yourself, though, all you need is butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, and very cold water. Preferably also a cheese grater. And maybe an abundance of patience and determination. It is worth it, though. There are few things in life as satisfying as cutting into a crispy puff pastry to oozing brie.
Equipment
- 2 Bowls
- Freezer
- Cheese Grater
- Plastic Wrap
- Refrigerator
- Rolling Pin
- Oven
- Baking Dish
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
- 227 g. butter preferably unsalted (1 c.)
- 240 g. all-purpose flour (2 c.)
- 12 g. sugar (1 tbsp.)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8-10 tbsp. cold water
Baked Brie
- 1 sheet puff pastry 12x12 inch
- 16 oz. brie whole wheel
- 2 eggs whisked (for egg wash)
Instructions
Form Dough
- Place butter in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- Place at least 10 tablespoons of water in the freezer and chill for 10 minutes as well.
- Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
- When the butter is cold and solid, quickly grate with a cheese grater.On a warm day or if the butter has warmed at all, place it back in the freezer for another 10 minutes before proceeding.
- Add the butter to the flour mixture and add just enough chilled water to be able to mix it together and form a rough dough ball. You can do this by starting with a fork and then roughly kneading it a couple of times.This should be done as quickly as possible. You should still be able to see pockets of butter, but not pockets of unmixed flour. This isn't cookie dough! It should not be smooth and mixed entirely. But just enough to hold a shape.
First Chill
- Shape into a 1/2-inch thick square and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for an hour.
Roll Dough
- After an hour in the refrigerator, lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
- Fold both of the ends toward the center. This will make 3 layers, much like folding a pamphlet or piece of paper to fit into an envelope.
- Rotate one half turn, or 90 degrees, and roll out the dough again into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Fold the ends into thirds again.
- Repeat this process a total of 4 times. This will laminate the dough, making it softer and smoother. Although. you. still may see pockets of unincorporated butter. This is perfectly fine!Make sure to do it quickly and without heating up the dough or melting the butter. If this even begins to happen, put the dough back into the refrigerator or freezer and chill before continuing.
Second Chill
- After rolling out and folding the dough 4 times, leave the final layer folded into thirds. Then, wrap again with plastic wrap and put back in the refrigerator for 2 more hours.You can leave the dough in this stage for up to 48 hours before using.
Wrap Brie
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, whisk 2 eggs in a small bowl and set aside.
- After the oven has preheated, lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough into a 1/2-inch thick square. Cut into a roughly 12x12 inch sheet.
- Place the brie in the center of the puff pastry and wrap the dough around it.Make sure to do this quickly so as to not heat up the pastry and tightly squeeze the ends together to keep them from coming apart during the baking process.
- Lightly coat with egg wash.
Bake Brie
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the puff pastry has turned golden brown.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- For a more in-depth look at how to make puff pastry, check out my article on The Fundamentals of Puff Pastry.
- Using an entire wheel of brie is pretty essential. If you use a pre-cut version that is in a triangle wedge, the cheese will seep into the puff pastry and it won't cook properly.
- Before wrapping the brie in puff pastry, you can score the top of the wheel, though, and add a layer of honey, cranberry sauce, or chocolate right on top. The scoring on the top will allow the toppings to soak into the cheese, and not into the pastry, which will puff up on top of it like usual.