3 Minute Melty Festive Brie Baked Brie

I’m officially in holiday mode! I never know exactly when it will hit me, but it always eventually does. When I stop setting my alarm and yet I still wake up at 6 am every morning (?). When I hit the beach with Dozer every single morning to meet up with his “family”, a congregation of anywhere between 5 – 20+ golden retrievers in the area. When I notice that everyone is in a good mood. More people smile at you on the street, and even though the shops are so crowded, no one is huffing and sighing loudly in the check out queues no matter how long they are. (OK I lie, some people still do and said person may be one of those people that sometimes does, because even though I’m in holiday mode, I do still have a tendency to put myself on a schedule of some sorts, albeit more of a social rather than work schedule). So because I’m in holiday mode, today I’m sharing something that is ridiculously fast and easy. Truth be told, I did make and take lots of photos of a few other things – nuts, mulled wine – but I just wasn’t 1000% happy with the recipes. I can do better. So next year. I’ll share them next year. For this year, you’ll just have to make do with this – my 3 Minute Melty Festive Brie. Aka a super speedy Baked Brie appetizer.

You don’t really need a recipe for this. All I do is pop a brie or camembert in the microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds on high, or until it’s melted. It’s really easy to tell – just prod it in the centre and it will feel really soft and….er….well, it will feel melted. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Then top it with roughly chopped pecans, pomegranate seeds and pour over maple syrup. And that’s it! Hmm. Maybe it’s not even 3 minutes. It might be 2 minutes 30 seconds. I didn’t factor in the time it takes to unwrap the brie / open the packet of pecans (get ’em crushed if you seriously want to save time) / wack the pomegranate seeds out / pull the bottle of maple syrup out of the cupboard. But you get the idea. The actual construction time of the brie is definitely less than 3 minutes. 🙌🏼

Oh! Quick tip: This is how to get pomegranate seeds out – just cut in half, then over a bowl, wack the pomegranates with a wooden spoon and the seeds will come flying out into the bowl. Every time I do this, I get a ridiculous childish sense of satisfaction / want to giggle. 😉

I topped this brie with pecans, pomegranate seeds and maple syrup. I really do think that is a stellar combination – the creamy savoury brie, the juicy fresh pops of pomegranate, the warm nuttiness of pecans and woody sweetness of maple syrup – but you can totally tailor it to your own taste or whatever you have. My formula is to use something nutty for texture, something syrupy for sweetness and some kind of fruit for freshness / juiciness. So there you have it! This is one of my greatest secret weapon starters revealed. It looks fantastic, you don’t need to use an expensive brie/camembert for this (in fact, I encourage you not to), it’s adaptable to your taste, it takes minutes to make, and it makes you look like a rockstar! – Nagi x PS I have no idea what to call this. It really is essentially a baked brie appetizer except it’s not baked. But really, I bet no one would ever know whether this was baked or microwaved.

WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT

You really don’t need a recipe video for this 3 Minute Melty Festive Brie but I couldn’t resist making one just so you can see that melty cheese in all its glory.