Brie en Croute

Brie en Croute is one of my favorite things to make - how could you go wrong with molten cheese enveloped in pastry?  It is an elegant appetizer, and it's incredibly easy to make.  It takes about five minutes to assemble, and you only need 3 ingredients.  I made it last night for a pre-law prom party, and I wish I could be transported back in time to eat more of it.  

Here's what you'll need:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 8oz. round brie

1/4 cup jam

Preheat the oven to 375.  After the puff pastry has thawed, carefully unfold it onto lightly greased wax paper.  

Roll it out a little to make sure it will fit around the brie.  This step isn't completely necessary, but it certainly makes it easier when it comes to wrapping up the cheese.  

Place the wheel of brie in the center of the pastry.  I scraped a little of the rind off, but you really don't need to.  If you can't find a wheel of brie, you can use a wedge.  I would probably cut the narrow end off and flip it around so you have more of a square.  

Spoon some jam or preserves on top of the brie.  I used blackberry because that's what I had in the fridge, but you could use anything.  

Spread the jam around so it covers the top.  

And then wrap.  You can be as fancy or as unfancy as you want.  

I chose unfancy since I don't know how to do fancy.  Just keep folding up the edges until it looks something like this.  I ended up tearing off a little of the excess pastry.   Hopefully if you grease your work surface you won't end up with a sticky, wax papery mess like I did.  

Place the whole thing in a greased baking dish or cookie sheet.  You can brush the top with egg white, but it will still be delicious if you skip that step.  Bake it for 25-30 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.  

Serve with crusty bread or crackers.  I didn't get a picture of the whole thing after it came out of the oven, but here's what it looked like after everybody dug in.