Camembert en croute

Camembert is one of those cheeses that can be enjoyed at room temperature, but if you take a little time and effort to fancy it up, you just might never go back to more casual snacking. The classic preparation for Cambembert-style cheeses is cloaked in puff pastry and baked until it’s melty — it’s difficult to improve on this method, but feel free to improvise with your choice of fruit preserves (we chose strawberry because it’s classic!).

Ingredients

1 wheel of Camembert-style cheese

1 sheet of puff pastry

2 tablespoons good-quality strawberry or other flavor preserves (fig, apricot, blackberry, or raspberry are great options)

Directions

Thaw puff pastry while preheating oven to 400°. Roll pastry out to a 10-inch square and cut it into a circle. Cut off the top of the Camembert wheel and place the preserves in a circle the size of the cheese wheel in the center of the puff pastry circle. With the cut sid down, place the cheese wheel on the preserves. Starting with a small section, bring the puff pastry over the cheese wheel, making a fold. Continue with folding the excess pastry with the folds going in the same direction until the cheese is encased. Press down on the seal so the pastry stays in place, then flip it over to place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for at least 20 minutes. Serve with charcuterie, apple slices and other fruit, and crackers.