Brie with goat's milk caramel (cajeta) drizzled on top
Burlington Free Press
Green Mountain
Warm brie and cajeta add savory, sweet flavors to holiday gatherings
By Calley Hastings • Sunday, December 27, 2009
Vermont is full of incredible cheesemakers and has gained nationwide attention during the past decade for its award-winning artisan cheeses.
The holiday season is a great time to create diverse and interesting cheese plates to highlight the best of Vermont. Check out the Vermont Cheese Council’s Web site www.vtcheese.com for more information on specific cheesemakers and a listing of all the cheeses produced in Vermont. Also, more than half of the cheesemakers are open to the public and enjoy visitors.
Make sure to call ahead, though.
Below is one of my favorite cheese recipes.
This holiday season I’m having a love affair. It’s with caramel and cheese. Any kind of cheese, but the top three are chevre, brie and blue cheese. I’m a sucker for sweet and savory, so the two are a natural combination for me.
For Thanksgiving, I creamed fresh chevre and caramel into baked butternut squash and served it with a dash of chipotle and a sprinkle of coconut on top. In the recipe below, I’ve taken one of the easiest and most delicious hors d’oeuvres recipes and tweaked it.
Normally I would serve baked brie with maple syrup or honey, but my personal sweetener is caramel, so I’ve added this instead. The warm brie melts into the sweet caramel and the almonds are chopped up and sprinkled on top to add some texture. Also, feel free to add some dried cranberries to the dish.
This appetizer just begs for a rainy or snowy Saturday evening, a warm fireplace, good friends and a few bottles of wine. Enjoy this recipe during the holiday season.
RECIPE: Baked Brie with Caramel and Sliced Almonds
INGREDIENTS
1 wheel of brie (you can use a smaller piece if you can’t find a whole wheel)
Note: Try Vermont’s own Ploughgate Hartwell or Blythedale Vermont Brie
1/4 cup caramel (try Fat Toad Farm’s cajeta- goat’s milk caramel — much creamier)
1/4 cup sliced or chopped almonds
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Place brie in a heatproof dish. A ceramic pie plate is aesthetically pleasing, but you could use a cookie sheet as well. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and drizzle caramel and almonds on top. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is warm and gooey.
Remove from oven and serve hot with fresh bread, sliced fresh or dried fruit or crackers. Make it even more interesting by making your own crackers. King Arthur Flour has some great homemade cracker recipes.
Calley Hastings runs Fat Toad Farm, a small goat dairy in Brookfield, along with family members Steve Reid, Judith Irving and Josey Hastings. They produce fresh goat cheese and goat’s milk caramel (cajeta). Find their products in natural food stores throughout Vermont. Look for more recipes and information about the farm at www.fattoadfarm.com. Calley Hastings also works as the coordinator for the Vermont Cheese Council, an organization that helps promote and advance the Vermont cheesemaking industry.
Ready to serve! Brie, caramel (cajeta) and sliced almonds.
