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Baked Brie With Maple Bourbon Apple Sauce
Some of you will have noticed a certain holiday magazine has a baked Brie recipe and they tell you if you can't buy Brie then you should substitute Camembert as being made from cows milk they both taste the same. I must tell you that this is absolute nonsense. It's like saying that all cheeses taste the same if they are made from cows milk. I love Brie but hate Camembert. What it really should have said is that Brie and Camembert have the same physical properties, that is an edible exterior rind, maturing in the same way, and melting in the oven when baked.
For Brie to be ripe it should only just give under gentle pressure and not be runny. If it is ripe before you are ready to use it, then freeze it. Both Brie and Camembert are unpleasant to the majority of people once they are allowed to ripen to runniness. My Grandfather would eat Camembert every day of his life according to my father. However, due to its odor, my grandmother wouldn't allow it in the house so it had to be stored outside in the stone coal cellar. For some reason at one time, my grandfather forgot it and when he went to get some it had eaten itself away to dust. At the moment an 8oz round of Brie costs around $3 so it is not an expensive treat for you to try.
So go ahead, live dangerously and enjoy this dish.
Ingredients
- 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, sliced and cut into 12th's.
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp water
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp bourbon
- 2 tbsp chopped nuts oven toasted for 10 minutes at 350°
- 1 x 4" round (8oz) of Brie that is not soft/squishy to the touch. It needs to be quite firm for baking.
Method
1. Put apples, water, butter and cinnamon in a 1 qt. Non stick saucepan and cook over a gentle heat for about 5 - 15 minutes until apples are softening. If you use an open omelet style pan you will need to add more water to prevent apples burning dry. If you intend to serve as a sauce immediately with ham etc, then cook apples until they are as tender as you want.2. Add maple syrup and bourbon and cook for 2 - 3 minutes more. As a brie topping, I didn't cook sauce once I added syrup and bourbon.
Adjust seasonings to your taste after first time. Sauce will mellow and develop as it stands. 3. Remove Brie from box, unwrap plastic covering. Cut off top rind of Brie.
4. Place Brie on oven proof plate you intend to serve from. Choose a plate about 2" bigger on either side of Brie.
5. Pour apple mix on top of brie. Bake in preheated 325° oven for 10-20 minutes until brie has clearly melted (brie will start losing shape as walls collapse when nicely melted). Nuts will be browning and syrup will be caramelizing where it touches the plate. Test the brie with a spoon to see if it has melted.
6. Serve with pieces of graham crackers, imported almond thins (crispy cookies with slight cinnamon taste) or thin slices of French bread just toasted in the oven without becoming so hard they shatter. Also serve with wedges of fresh apple dipped in lemon juice and water to prevent browning. Preferably serve with small coffee style spoon for guests to spoon up very soft Brie.
Oonagh Williams, proprietor of Royal Temptations, has a Culinary Arts degree, is a qualified teacher and offers a Personal Chef and Catering Service. She can be seen frequently on WMUR ABC's Channel 9 Cooks Corner. Contact Oonagh on 424-6412 or visit her web site at Geocities.com/CookingWithOonagh.