African Vanielje on Sep 16 2007 at 9:17 pm | Filed under: Uncategorized
Try to buy organic brie if you can. This one was an organic Cotswold brie, with a lovely smooth taste so typical of Somerset cheeses.You need a whole brie as the intact rind is needed to hold in the melted cheese as it bakes.
- With a sharp knife score around the top of the cheese, leaving a rim of about 1/2 cm.
- Slide a sharp knife just under the rind and scrape off the rind in the middle of the cheese.
- Basically it is like taking a lid off and the rind that is left behind looks like a bowl, with a rim. It is important not to make any nicks or holes in the rind as the hot baked cheese will leak out if there are any weak spots
- Make little slits in the yellow cheese (being careful not to pierce right through) with the point of your knife.
- Sprinkle a little dark brown sugar on the inside of the cheese and pour over a few teaspoonfuls of dark rum. I use Havana Club as it has such a complex, delicious depth.
- Trim the tips off 1 or 2 fresh figs and slice into segments.
- Lay the segments in a spiral on top of the cheese, add a few more teaspoons of rum and sprinkle liberally with more dark brown sugar.
- Refrigerate until ready to cook.
- When ready, take out of the fridge about 10 minutes before baking to allow to come to room temp
- Bake the brie until soft in a hot oven (about 180*C) and until the figs are sticky and caramelized
- Serve while still hot with spiced oat biscuits
