Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Fast, Easy Brie En Croute Apple Compote Dessert

This was the dessert I prepared for my family last night. Easy, fast and delicious. The puff pastry was store-bought for those days when we are just too busy or too famished to wait. The entire recipe can be assembled in less than a half hour.

Anything "en croute" or in a crust, means it is in a pastry shell. Somehow puff pastry makes everything taste better and more elegant, don't you think?

The apple compote adds some sweetness and additional moistness for a melt-in-your mouth, satisfying finale to your meal.


Brie En Croute Apple Compote Dessert

INGREDIENTS
  • Brie wedge about 3-4" wide
  • Store-bought puff pastry
  • Egg yolk or milk (optional)
  • 4 Golden Delicious apples
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • Juice of 1/4 of a lemon
Take a wedge of brie. Scrape off the white part, but leave the rest of the crust.
Wrap it in a sheet of store-bought puff pastry making any preferred shape. You can use an egg yolk or a bit of milk to paint the top for a golden crust.
Place it in your toaster oven at 350 F until golden (about 15-20 min.).

While the pastry is baking, peel, core and slice apples.
Place in large saucepan. Add 1/2 cup of sugar. Squeeze the juice of 1/4 of a lemon. Let macerate for a few minutes. Cook over medium heat until apples are soft and sugar has become a golden brown caramelized syrup (about 5-10 minutes).

Serve apple compote over baked brie.

Enjoy!

P.S.: Joie de vivre brought up a very interesting point in comments. You might be interested to read it and my reply about eating cheeses and desserts.
Thank you, Joie de vivre. :-)

7 comments:

  1. I've never seen this served as a dessert before, but why not?! Makes more sense than for an appetizer like I've seen it before! These look so easy, I must try it sometime. My problem is I like it too much!

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  2. Joie de vivre: Yes, for French people, this is absolutely a dessert -- NOT an appetizer. Cheese is part of the dessert course in France and our meal is never complete without a nice piece of cheese. Since this cheese is paired with a SWEET compote, it makes it all the more for dessert. It would appear to be a small nuance, but it is a huge distinction for the French. Additionally, there are some cheeses which are eaten almost exclusively for a farmer's type breakfast and some for appetizers or snacks. Brie is one of those cheeses which is very versatile. Cheese for dessert is what my relatives always miss the most when they come to visit in the U.S. Not only is the selection small at most grocery stores, but cheese is not available for dessert at most restaurants, even "French" restaurants.

    I'm glad you like it and hope you will make it yourself -- it's too easy and tastes too good not to. :-)

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  3. Fantastic! I love brie! Hubby would devour this in a second :)

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  4. Hi Beth. Glad you'll be making this delicious recipe for yourself and Chris. Good to see you are back to blogging too.

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  5. Hi friend.. Interesting post.. Nice blog work.. keep it up..
    will drop by your site often.. Do find time to visit my blog and post your comments..
    Have a great day.. Cheers!!!

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  6. Those apples look heavenly.
    Hi,
    Just wanted to drop in a line and let you know of the “Baking Event –Calling all Foodies” hosted by me at the foodie site www.ifood.tv. You are invited to be part of this event that aims to unite bloggers to some great baking this month. The details are all here http://www.ifood.tv/blog/baking_event_calling_all_foodies

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  7. Sparkzspot: Thank you for stopping by and I'm so glad you like my blog. I seen you have only been blogging since January so I warmly welcome you to the blog world. All the very best wishes to you.

    Amy: Thanks for the personal invitation about your blogging event. I was looking at your blog and the ifood.tv site and find them both quite interesting. :-) Loved the Let's Pizza Machine!

    ReplyDelete

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