How To Make Brie En Croûte Slideshow

First, assemble all your ingredients and get out a rolling pin and your cookie cutters.

Make sure to lightly flour your work surface before gently rolling the pastry. Aim for a thickness of ¼-1/8 inch.

I used apricot jam, but you can use whatever jam you prefer, like raspberry or cherry. For crunch, add toasted almonds on top of the jam, if you'd like.

Once the wheel of Brie is flipped, trim the puff pastry around the cheese into a square, leaving at least 2 inches on each of the four sides.

Make sure to work with small pieces of dough, gathering and overlapping as you work. Press down the dough so it sticks together, too. And make sure you're neat — I'm watching.

Press cookie (or fondant) cutters into the leftover pastry to make shapes. I like a little nature motif with my pastry, so I chose leaves. Monograms are another favorite of mine.

Some call me neurotic when they see me drawing veins on my leaves; I much prefer being called detail-oriented. It is accurate, though!

Use a lightly beaten egg as an egg wash. It will help turn the pastry a golden brown, and also act as a glue to ensure your decorative accents stay attached during baking. Make sure to brush the top of your decorations, too!

The finished, brushed Brie. Carefully place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serve the Brie en Croûte fresh from the oven on a pretty platter with toasted baguette slices.

Click here to see the Brie on Croûte recipe.