Wrapped in golden puff pastry, the way you would do it with quince paste — so it cuts into wedges instead of flooding the board.
Wrapping the cheese in pastry does two things a naked baked camembert cannot: it holds together when you cut it, and it keeps the chutney from drying out on top. The pastry goes golden, the cheese goes molten, and it comes to the table looking like considerably more work than it was.
Method
- Sit the cheese in the middle of the pastry sheet. Leave the rind on — it is what holds the cheese together while it melts.
- Spread the chutney over the top of the cheese, keeping it inside the edge of the rind so it does not run down the sides. Add thyme if using.
- Bring the corners of the pastry up over the top and pleat them together, pressing firmly to seal. Trim any thick overlapping bulk from underneath so the base is not raw pastry on raw pastry.
- Turn the parcel over so the seam is underneath, sit it on a lined tray, and brush all over with beaten egg.
- Chill for 20 minutes. This is the step that keeps the parcel from slumping in the oven — cold pastry holds its shape while it sets.
- Bake at 200°C (180°C fan) for 25 minutes, until deep golden all over.
- Rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Straight from the oven the cheese floods; after ten minutes it oozes, which is what you want.
Tips
- Cold cheese, cold pastry, hot oven. Room-temperature cheese melts before the pastry cooks.
- Cut a small cross in the top of the pastry before baking to let steam out and stop the base going soggy.
- Pastry offcuts make leaves or a lattice for the top. Egg-wash them on before it goes in the oven.