When I was younger, I had visions of having my own little chic apartment, where I'd throw small but glam cocktail parties on the regular. Ha. In any case, I have attended some of these not-so-glam cocktail parties of someone who still believes in that sort of lifestyle, and the one thing that I always took away from these parties was how great warm brie is.

I've been eating brie since I was in high school, but it's always been a little bland to me, even when sandwiched between garnishes and herbs. It wasn't until I had it spread on a cracker, oozing hot, that I truly appreciated brie.

As I was brainstorming appetizer recipes for New Year's this year, I suddenly recalled the warm brie appetizers I've had, and I decided to make something simple -- brie en croute.

The term "en croute" simply indicates something that's wrapped and baked in pastry dough. So brie en croute is exactly what it sounds like -- a round of brie wrapped in pastry dough, and baked.

I looked at a bunch of recipes and sort of put together my own, so here it is ...

Brie en Croute

Yields about 5 servings

Ingredients
One round of brie, about 8 ounces
1 pastry sheet, defrosted
2 tablespoons of jam or preserves (I used raspberry, but apricot, fig, etc. would work)
1/2 cup of almonds, walnuts or pecans, chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
1 egg
Cinnamon
Dried herbs, if you'd like (I think rosemary and thyme work best with fruit flavors)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Melt the butter and coat the nuts in the butter, toasting them until they are brown. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and coat the nuts in cinnamon.

Roll out the defrosted pastry sheet until the creases disappear. Place the brie round at the center and pour the nuts over it. Pour the jam/preserves over the nuts and cheese, and add any of the dried herbs at this point. I used about a teaspoon thyme with my raspberry preserves, but you could certainly add more for a less subtle flavor.

Wrap your brie up with the pastry sheet, gathering the edges at the center of the brie. You can twist the edges together and tie it with non-coated string (a.k.a. cotton string), or you could just leave the edges overlapping over one another. Beat the egg and brush the entire surface of the pastry dough with the egg.

Place the round on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving with crackers.

This was delicious, and so simple. I don't typically like nuts in my food, but these nuts were so flavorful, having been toasted in butter and all. Next time I might try a savory brie en croute, or something simpler, like honey, nuts, and herbs.