Crowd Pleaser: Baked Brie with Fruit Preserves

It has been too many days since I last posted. My husband and I were celebrating my big birthday in a big way – back in NYC. We weathered the snowstorm, drank lots of champagne, and surrounded ourselves with amazing friends. Now I have to get my act together and plan for Christmas dinner, which is approaching a bit too quickly for me.


My sister called me today to ask for a recipe for an hors d'oeuvre that I had made for her daughter’s birthday party a few weeks ago. The recipe came highly recommended to me from my friend, Christina. This baked brie stole the show among the hors d'oeuvres I brought to the party. My sister even declared that she liked this version better than my usual baked brie with caramelized onions that I had been making for the past seven years (which is also delicious).

You can use your favorite flavor of preserves in this recipe. Christina’s favorite is apricot. I was in need of a black-colored hors d'oeuvre for my “Brown Bear” theme, so I used blackberry preserves, and also garnished with some fresh blackberries. I’m going to make this again myself on Christmas and just purchased some raspberry preserves to try. (I think the red preserves and the green apple slices will look pretty for Christmas). Christina was correct when she said this is definitely a crowd pleaser!

Baked Brie with Fruit Preserves
Ingredients
1 wheel of brie
1 cup your favorite fruit preserves
1 sheet puff pastry
Optional garnish – fresh fruit (same as preserves)
Serve with crackers and apple slices

Directions
Thaw sheet of puff pastry by allowing it to sit at room temperature for 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Take a wheel of brie and using a sharp knife, cut off the case around the edges of the cheese. Wrap brie wheel in puff pastry. Cover the pastry with preserves. Place on a non-stick baking sheet (or one that has been coated in cooking spray), and bake for 30 minutes.

Garnish with fresh fruit, if desired. Serve immediately with crackers and apple slices.

Apple Applications: Baked & Stuffed Apples and Apple Chips

Apples happen to be my husband’s favorite fruit, if not one of his favorite foods. He’ll eat them any which way. He loves apple pie, and I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve only made an apple pie once in my life. I did it a of couple years ago for his birthday. The pie turned out wonderfully, but when you’re cooking healthy meals for two, apple pie doesn’t make it into the regular rotation.


The October, 2009 issue of Cooking Light had a couple ideas of how to be innovative with this well-known fruit. These aren’t your typical apple applications, but they are quite tasty and a lot of fun. They would be a fun treat for kids to try! (Particularly the Apple Chips, which are a bit addictive!)

Apple Chips
Ingredients
* 2 apples
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
Use a mandolin to cut paper-thin slices of apple. Arrange apple slices in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle apples with sugar and cinnamon, and bake at 200°F for 1 ½ hours or until lightly browned. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Stuffed and Baked Apples
Ingredients
* 4 apples
* ½ cup brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
* 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small cubes

Directions
Peel top of apple skins, then core, stopping ½ inch before you reach the bottom to keep filling inside. Use a melon baller or spoon to scoop out core, if necessary. Mix brown sugar, walnuts, and butter in a small bowl. Fill apples with brown sugar mixture.

Place apples in an 8-inch square baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes; uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until a knife is easily inserted into flesh.

More Apples: Apple Brandy Pies with Cheddar Crust

The fall foliage is peaking around here, and we are savoring every day of fall. A couple weeks ago we spent the day visiting our favorite cider mill (a perennial favorite and local institution in the town where I grew up), and enjoyed fresh cider and spiced donuts.


We’ve been eating a lot of apples, and I’ve also been cooking with them. It seemed like the perfect time to try a new recipe that I saw.

My friend Christina was kind enough to snail-mail me a copy of a complimentary magazine that is available at her local food store in northern California. The Raley’s Something Extra magazine has a plethora of recipes, and new ways to use different grocery items. I received it in the mail from her one Friday evening when I arrived home after work. I read through the magazine no fewer than three times before the end of the weekend. (I am very thankful that she sent a copy my way!!)

While I’ve flagged many recipes in the Holiday edition of Something Extra, I decided to add a little more apple to our autumn and start off trying their Apple Brandy Pies. I sent them with my husband to his football tailgate today, and I think they’d make a nice hors d'oeuvre or addition to a dessert tray.

Apple Brandy Pies with Cheddar Crust
Ingredients
* 2 tbsp. butter
* 1 large green apple, peeled, cored and chopped
* 1/4 cup apple brandy
* 2 tbsp. honey
* 1 (15-oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts
* 2/3 cup finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Melt butter in a medium skillet. Add apple and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir apple brandy and honey into apples and cook over medium-high heat until excess liquid has cooked off; set aside to cool.

Unroll pie crusts and sprinkle 1/3 cup cheese onto each. Press cheese into crust with a rolling pin, rolling into a 10-inch circle. Cut into circles with a 3½-inch cutter. Place equal amounts of filling in each pastry circle, then brush edges of pastry lightly with water. Fold over to enclose filling and press with the tines of a fork to seal.

Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Apples for Him: Fresh Fruit Crisp

My husband loves apples in all of the forms they can be eaten in. I pack an apple in his lunch everyday, and he’ll gravitate towards an apple dessert whenever it’s on the menu. I don’t make apple desserts for him as much as I should could. While I also enjoy this crisp, juicy fruit in it’s raw form, if I’m going to indulge in dessert, I’d rather do it with chocolate!

This time of year is the perfect time to cook with apples, as they are everywhere! While my husband would probably prefer an apple pie (which I’ve only made for him once ... come on, what are the two of us going to do with a whole apple pie?), I opted to make apple crisp.

My apple crisp recipe is much easier than some other apple desserts (like strudel, turnovers, pies, etc.) because instead of mixing and rolling dough, you make an easy crumbly topping (this is my favorite part of the dish, which we refer to as the “goodness”). Several years ago we gave my sister one of these contraptions from Williams-Sonoma for Christmas. She has gotten a lot of mileage out of it over the past few years and seems to be cranking out homemade applesauce regularly. (Even my two-year-old nephew can help operate this appliance!) This will make your apple desserts come together quite quickly!


I made this crisp recipe with only apples, but you can use any fruit that you want – pears, peaches, etc. My mother suggested adding a couple tablespoons of Grade B Maple Syrup to the apple filling (I didn’t have any at home, but plan to try her recommendation next time.)

Fresh Fruit Crisp
Ingredients
For Fruit Filling:
6 or 7 apples*, sliced and peeled
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice

For “Goodness” Topping:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup butter, at room temperature

Directions
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Place fruit in a 2-quart casserole dish or a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon, water and lemon juice.

In a large bowl combine all ingredients for topping. Using a pastry blender (or a fork) mix until texture is crumbly. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

* You can use apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, pears, berries, or any combination of them. Use whatever fruit is fresh, and experiment to find your favorite combination!