Even though both my husband and I have the first two days of January off work, we decided to have a quiet celebration at home rather than be out partying until midnight. We planned to re-watch some episodes of Downton Abbey in preparation for the US release of Season 5. Neither of us expected to be very hungry, so I only warmed up some milk for hot chocolate and baked a bit of brie. 
Although it is edible, brie’s white rind doesn’t call to my taste buds. Instead, I scraped off the top, spread fig & muscat wine preserves and sprinkled a handful of smoked almonds over everything.
Soft, oozing cheese contrasts nicely with the crunch of toasted almonds and crisp crackers.
For those who have resolved to make more healthful eating choices in the New Year, you may be pleased to know that brie is a good source of protein as well as B vitamins. . .we’ll not mention the fat numbers in this post.
Because there were just two of us, I decided to cut out a smaller portion and bake it in a paper-lined mini springform pan. This was a mistake, because it is the rind that holds the soft cheese together. The cheese is firm enough to cut when you pull it straight from the refrigerator, but once it warms up it oozes all over the place. If you don’t want to serve the rind, you will want to cut it off while the cheese is cold and place the brie in a dish that you plan to serve it in.
KZ Kitchen 