This is a great appetizer
for company before dinner or just with wine and other appetizers. This is
a favorite – everyone asks me for my recipe after a party at which
I serve this.
½ cup cranberry preserves or jam*
½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup currants
1 (171/4-ounce) package (2 sheets)frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 (8-ounce) 4 ¼-inch diameter round Brie cheese
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
Apple slices
Crackers
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In small bowl combine preserves, walnuts, cranberries
and currants; set aside.
On lightly floured surface place pastry sheets, one on top of the other;
roll to 13-inch square. Cut to 13-inch circle. Place pastry circle on greased
15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan.
Using paring knife, remove center of Brie in as large a piece as possible,
leaving ¼-inch shell around outside edge and bottom. Set center of
Brie aside.
Evenly press walnut cranberry mixture into shell. Gently place removed Brie
center on top of walnut cranberry mixture. (Do not push down or edges may
crack.) Place filled Brie in center of pastry circle. Gather pastry up around
Brie, holding firmly at top; pinch edges of pastry to seal. Check for holes
in pastry, patching with extra dough if needed. Decorate top with star-shaped
pastry cut-outs.
In small bowl, with fork, beat together milk, water and egg; brush over
pastry. Bake for 38 to 42 minutes or until medium golden brown. (Brie may
leak when baking.) Let stand 15 minutes to all Brie to set. Serve with apple
slices or crackers.
*Substitute ½ cup red currant jelly. Increase dried cranberries to
½ cup.
12 servings.