When the weekend arrives we all start to think about options to serve at home or to take to friend’s homes. This Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam is wonderful. The melted cheese with the sweet jam is an extraordinary combination. The result is delicious and you can make the jam ahead of time, too.
Planning an evening of appetizers
I enjoy making special dishes when people I love come to visit. I usually mix a homemade recipe with a cheese board to ease the load a bit. This Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam is a great recipe to make because you serve it warm, with the cheese fresh from the oven. The jam can be at room temperature or slightly warm. You don’t want to serve it fresh from the pan because it will be too hot. If you want more appetizer ideas, check my Appetizer section. Also, here is a short selection that I adore:
About the Cherry Tomato Jam
This cherry tomato jam is delicious. It’s a good way of using cherry tomatoes that have started to turn a bit old and wrinkly. You can always make extra and keep it in a jar. Sugar has been a way of preserving food for a long time because bacteria can’t reproduce in such a sugary liquid. You can refrigerate the jam for up to 3 months or freeze it for a year. In this way, you can make Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam whenever you like! Making it is simple, you just cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters and place them in a pan with the sugar. Cook them until the mix thickens and the tomatoes start to fall apart.
How to bake Brie
I like to remove the top before placing Brie cheese (or even Camembert) in the oven. This helps me to notice when the cheese inside is already melted. This is especially useful if it’s your first time baking Brie or if you’re using a new brand of cheese. It usually takes 15-20 minutes until it melts. Once it’s melted remove it from the oven and serve it immediately because if you leave it at room temperature for too long it will harden again. If you’re not using a cheese round but rather a wedge when making this Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam, then you must place it in a small baking dish. This is because it won’t have the sides that keep the melted cheese in.
Flavour variations
If you love this Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam I know that you will immediately start thinking of flavour variations. A simple change is to swap the cherry tomatoes for berries. Cherries, strawberries and raspberries all work really well. If you only have large tomatoes rather than cherry tomatoes you can also use them. Use a small tomato or half a large tomato instead of the 6 cherry tomatoes. In the case of the cheese, you can also easily swap the Brie cheese for Camembert if you prefer a stronger option. Serve this appetizer with crackers, toast or homemade pita chips.
Baked Brie with Cherry Tomato Jam
Ingredients
For the cherry tomato jam
- 6 cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
- 60 g granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 lime juice only
For the cheese
- 1 round Brie cheese of 125g
Instructions
For the cherry tomato jam
- Place all the ingredients on a pan over medium heat and cook them until the tomatoes look shiny and cristal-y in appearance and the sugar thickens to resemble warm honey.
- Remove the jam from the pan and let it cool down completely or until slightly warm.
For the Brie cheese
- Draw a circle on thee top rind of the cheese, leaving about 3mm of edge.
- With the same knife, remove the rind within that circle to expose the soft cheese below. Do it carefully so that you only remove rind.
- Bake the cheese in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 20-25 minutes or until the centre is liquid (you can check with a knife).
- Serve immediately with the jam on top. Do it quickly since the Brie solidifies back pretty quickly.
