Baked Brie in Puff Pastry - Easy Mother's Day Appetiser

Recipe: Baked Brie in Puff Pastry Recipe »

This baked brie in puff pastry is the ultimate easy party appetiser! Gooey melted brie wrapped in flaky butter pastry with a sweet or savoury jam filling. It is simple to prepare but always impressive. I'll show a range of flavour combinations that you can try. Perfect for entertaining, holidays or Mother's Day!

About This Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

This brie in puff pastry is a wonderful appetiser for any party and is great for any Mother's Day celebrations coming up. It's so simple to make and is very versatile. A wheel of brie is topped with jam or relish and then wrapped up in puff pastry and baked until golden. The brie inside melts and it is so delicious spread on crackers with fruit.

This is almost not even a recipe because it is so simple but there are some tricks that help make this brie in puff pastry fail proof every time because sometimes things can go wrong and the brie can become a puddle of goo when you pull it out of the oven (speaking from personal experience)! I'll share these easy tips with you.

Video How To Make Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

Video: How to Make Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

Tips For Making Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

1 - First I did a LOT of testing with this - I tested it with single cream brie, double cream brie and triple cream brie as well as Camembert. They are all as delicious as each other and there is no wrong brie to choose. Triple brie can melt a bit easier than single or double cream so that's why the following two tips are important. Camembert isn't quite as melty as brie so just keep that in mind depending on the end result you want.

2 - The most important thing to do is partially freeze your brie for 30 minutes before baking it. Otherwise the brie will cook too much and melt before the pastry becomes golden! The worst thing is when you spend more money on a triple cream brie only for it to ooze out :(

3 - The other very important thing is to seal the pastry really well so that there are no gaps! You know how you wrap cylindrical gifts? Just wrap it up a little bit at a time folding over the pastry to meet the top.

4 - You can also wrap the brie with prosciutto for added savoury flavour and to keep the cheese as bound as possible.

5 - You don't have to serve this brie in puff pastry straight away, even within half an hour or an hour is fine and the brie will still have a soft, spreadable texture to it. If you do serve it straight away for maximum gooeyness just be careful of the hot jam!

Creative Flavour Combinations for Baked Brie

Apricot & Almond: Apricot jam and toasted flaked almonds

Cranberry & Walnut: Cranberry Sauce and toasted walnuts pieces or just plain cranberry

Sweet & Sour: Caramelised Onion Jam

Italian: Tomato Relish and 100g/3.5oz prosciutto wrapped around brie

Classic French: Honey and toasted walnut pieces

Fruity: Peach or Mango Chutney or Relish

Turkey, Brie & Cranberry: Cranberry sauce and 100g/3.5oz thinly sliced turkey wrapped around brie.

Other brie recipes to try next: Melted Brie Dip, Whipped Brie and Caramelised Camembert.

Ingredients For Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

Brie - Use single, double or triple cream brie here. Camembert also works. Ash brie works too and gives it a nice colour contrast.

Puff Pastry - This is delicious with all butter puff pastry. Regular puff pastry contains margarine which makes it easier to handle but doesn't taste as delicious as butter puff pastry. Make sure to keep the butter puff pastry in the fridge until you want to use it as it can be tricky to work with and gets soft very easily.

Jam - I've tested this with lots of jam and preserves and they all work really well so there is no wrong jam for baked brie :) Use cranberry jam for a slightly tart filling or onion or tomato jam for savoury lovers. Apricot jam is my personal favourite although it is sweet. Relishes are also delicious with baked brie.

Glaze - Use either a beaten egg or single/thickened cream to glaze the pastry before baking.

Baked Brie in Puff Pastry Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 10 minutes plus 40 minutes freezing/thawing time

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4 in an appetiser spread

Ingredients Needed

• 200g/7oz wheel brie
• 1 sheet butter puff pastry (180g/6oz)
• 60g/2oz apricot jam
• Beaten egg or 2 tablespoons cream to glaze

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 PREPARE - Place brie in the freezer for 30 minutes and take the puff pastry out and place in the fridge to thaw slowly. Preheat oven to 210C/410F fan forced or 230C/446F conventional and line a baking tray with parchment.

Step 2 PASTRY - Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut a large circle in the pastry making the circle as large as possible. I use the extra scraps to make leaf decorations but this is optional.

Step 3 SEAL - Place the brie wheel in the centre and top with the jam or relish. Wrap up well like a package making sure there are no gaps. Brush with eggwash or cream. Add leaves or decorations on top and glaze these as well. Freeze the entire wrapped brie for 10 minutes before baking.

Step 4 BAKE - Bake for 20-23 minutes, turning halfway until pastry is golden. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Personal Note

As I tested this out with so many types of brie, I actually brought them to Mr NQN's mother's house because we can't eat that much brie between the two of us. Mr NQN's sister Amaya was having a birthday party and his mother Tuulikki made a curried lentil soup and we brought dessert and this baked brie.

Her house is always warmly lit and cosy and I was talking to Tuulikki when I noticed her usually silvery brunette hair was more blonde. I wasn't sure if it was from the warm lighting from the many candles on the table or whether she had changed her hair.

"Have you one something to your hair?" I asked her and she patted her hair happily. "Yes! I dyed it with turmeric!" she said excitedly. It turns out that you can dye your hair with a mixture of cornflour and turmeric! It's a temporary dye that lasts maybe a week or two but it fades to a pale blonde colour. At the moment, Tuulikki's hair is blonde with a touch of green but I think it will fade nicely!

So tell me Dear Reader, which combo do you like the sound of the best? What are you cooking for Mother's Day (or asking people to make you)?