This is baked brie with Christmas preserves — perfect for dinner and, honestly, probably for breakfast too.
During the holidays I’ve happily replaced many meals with treats — chocolates, cookies and leftovers have been filling in wherever dinner might normally be. I’ve probably eaten more baked brie in the past few weeks than all year, and I’m counting on at least one more round tonight.
About twenty years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I visited a friend in Saskatoon. She lived in a modest corner bungalow and had two small kids and a busy schedule. One day we decided to make a big pot of preserves to divide into jars as Christmas gifts. We mixed citrus, cranberries, nuts and warm spices, and even bought liquid pectin — which we didn’t really need. The preserves tasted like Christmas. We sat on kitchen stools and ate so much of it on crackers that I had to curl up on the couch afterward. (There might have been a little Baileys involved.)
I recently found that old recipe scrawled on a scrap of paper and decided to remake it, updating quantities and technique. This preserve is surprisingly simple: cranberries are naturally high in pectin, so they handle the gelling for you. It’s also a great use for the soft mandarin oranges that pile up this time of year. The result is a versatile holiday preserve — not quite jam, but wonderful on toast, warmed over ice cream or cake, or spooned into the centers of shortbread thumbprint cookies. Most of all, it’s heavenly on a wheel of Brie.
To enjoy on brie: slice the rind off the top of a wheel, place it in a baking dish, spoon generous dollops of the preserves over the top, and bake at about 350°F until the cheese becomes soft and melty. That’s all there is to it. The preserves keep well in jars in the fridge or freezer; if you want longer shelf stability you could process them for canning. I packed mine into Weck jars and will be bringing them to Christmas parties for the next few weeks.
To make the process faster, I pulsed the peeled mandarins and lemons in a food processor until chunky. That step saved time and created a nice texture. I developed the recipe while testing ideas for holiday recipes and kitchen appliances as part of a campaign with London Drugs. Appliances can make excellent gifts — I’d pick a waffle iron or a good coffee machine over jewelry any day.
If you’re heading to or hosting a holiday party this weekend, what was your favourite thing to eat? And if you’re staying home to avoid Arctic temperatures, what comfort food have you been curled up with on the couch?
* This post was sponsored by London Drugs as part of their #LDHoliday campaign; the opinions and words are my own.