This beautiful appetizer is perfect for any holiday party.
First juice and brown sugar are cooked in saucepan then dried cranberries are added. Next the plumped cranberries are mixed with nuts, honey and cinnamon. A sheet of puff pastry is placed on a baking sheet, then a round of Gouda cheese is placed in the center. Then the cranberry mixture is placed on top of the cheese and pastry is folded around the cheese. Additional strips of puff pastry are arranged on top. Next an egg wash is brushed on the pastry before baking.
Course
Appetizer
Prep Time20minutes
Cook Time40minutes
Resting Time5minutes
Servings12people
Ingredients
1medium(5 to 6 inch) Gouda cheese round
½cupcranberry juice
1tbsplight brown sugar
½cupwhole dried cranberries
½cupwalnutstoasted and chopped
2tbsphoney
¼tspground cinnamon
17ozfrozen puff pastry2 sheets, thawed
1large egglightly beaten
Crackers for serving
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Put cheese in freezer to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
In a small saucepan, whisk together cranberry juice and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn off the heat and add the cranberries. Let the cranberries plump for about 10 minutes. Transfer them with a slotted spoon to a medium bowl, add the walnuts, honey and cinnamon and mix together.
Roll one of the pastry sheets with a rolling pin to thin it out. Place the cheese on the center of the pastry. Top with the cranberry-nut mixture. Bring the edges of the pastry to the center and press together. Brush edges with egg wash to seal.
Cut 3 (1 inch) wide strips from the remaining puff pastry sheet. Brush with egg wash. Cross the 1st two strips on top of the pastry wrapped, so they intersect. Coat the edges with egg wash. From the third strip on top to form a bow.
Brush the whole puff pastry with the egg wash. Bake until light golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving with crackers.
Recipe Notes
You can substitute orange juice for the cranberry juice. Pecans can be used instead of walnuts.