Baked Brie+Microwave= Yum or Molten Cheesy Explosion?

[Dommy]

Hi Cooking Hounds! I've missed you guys terribly, I hope next term my prof is not so psycho so I can actually start cooking again...

But its holiday time and I have to make a sweet treat for work party tomorrow. Of course, I hardly have time for it, so I was thinking of making an easy peasy baked brie with Pecans and a Maple Sugar Glaze...

Here's my problem though... The party is actually at work and the only thing I have to warm it through again is a Microwave. Can I GENTLY re-heat my baked brie in the microwave? Or will that forever get me banned from the breakroom...

Thanks so much!!

--Dommy!

[danhole]

If the microwave has power settings, you could try it at a lower power setting (30-50%) but I have to agree with Sam - it's really risky in the microwave. I have tried it a couple times, and it isn't pretty!

[Sam Fujisaka]

Yes, and a possibly even greater problem is that you have to quit microwaving well ahead of time because the brie will continue to cook from the middle for a bit after taking it out.

[Dommy]

Yeah, I just talked it over with a friend who lives low carb and regularly nukes cheese slices for to make 'bread' and she totally talked me out of it saying similar things to what you guys said... Instead I'm just going to take cues from everyone, make the glaze tonight at home (I already have the brie and pecans here for easy assembly) and let the brie come to temp in the morning and heat up the maple glaze gently and pour over...

Thanks everyone!!! :)

--Dommy!

[danhole]

Good choice! Have fun!

[Dommy]

Well... It was a HUGE hit and got all eatten up!! (Which shocked me because I have some pretty pick co-workers... read here...)

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/344588

Although I wish the Brie had gotten a little runnier (The building is FREEZING all the time! :P), the taste was there. Also, I had to be really careful reheating the maple glaze. I did in increments, so that I could take it out and stir so it got smooth. I did it one last time to make sure it got ultra smooth, and it boiled up slightly! Ep!!! It was not too bad though...

Anyway, for a huge building, I used TJs huge Wheel o' Canadian Double Cream Brie ($12) and for the rest I used this Martha Stewart Recipe as a guide:

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/s...

Thanks again!!

--Dommy!

[coll]

Thanks Dommy! I have a hunk of brie I was going to serve Christmas Eve and now I think I'll serve it like this, since I have tons of extra pecans from my cookies.

[danhole]

Sounds great! Too bad you couldn't put it in a warm spot to get it a bit runnier, but still that's better than having a molten mess. That recipe looks good!

[Diana]

Thanks for the update! If I weren't allergic to nuts, I'd be all over that sauce!

[danhole]

You could leave the nuts off!

[Dommy]

Yup! It would also be good with Dried Fruit instead of nuts like Cherries or even dates! :)

--Dommy!

[Diana]

an excellent choice. Your brie will thank you, as will your co workers!

[Sam Fujisaka]

I use and defend microwave use in a busy kitchen. Brie, however, will break down and separate too easily in a microwave. Serve it at room temperature.

[digkv]

I've had success with microwaving brie but if you do have a puff pastry or any other pastry it would probably get soggy and not as delicious. Just microwave at short 30 sec to 1 min intervals and watch carefully.

[Diana]

Heating Brie is sacralage! Baked brie is the California Roll of the Cheese world.

ON that note, if you INSIST on taking one of the world's nicest cheeses and desicrating it, you can gently do it in the microwave. I would suggest heating the glaze seperately, though, and doing the brie at half power.

As Jung said, a pastry crust just can't be done without an oven. It will go all funny and icky in the microwave. Is there no toaster oven at work? You could bake it in a toaster oven.

[Dommy]

Herm... The most wonderful baked brie I had a great french restaurant...

Anyway, no crust, just maple glaze and sadly, we have no toaster oven here... our toaster oven actually got re-possessed by the building manager for 'mis-use' (And you guys think I'm kidding about being banned from the breakroom... :P)

--Dommy!

[Diana]

In France?

I see California Rolls in many japanese places in the US.

Too bad about the toaster.

Frankly, I think the "just maple glaze" is way better than the pastry covered baked brie.

A good glaze is a wonderful thing.

[dolores]

Just do it gradually, in maybe 15 second increments, and insert a knife to find out if it has reached the necessary stage of goodness. Yum.

[JungMann]

You can re-heat in the microwave. Watch before it gets too runny. If you decide to wrap it in puff pastry, however, you will need an oven to re-heat.