Baked Brie & Camembert Toppings & Bakers - Traditional Favorites All Year Long

We are delighted to carry Gourmet du Village, a small company located in Québec Canada, specializing in bringing a French /Québecois gourmet taste to the basics found in our American pantries or refrigerators. Their gourmet hot and cold dips mixes are renown for making any party or social gathering a delight for all.  Your family and friends will appreciate the extra attention to detail if you serve any of these delicious treats!

What Exactly is Brie Cheese?
Brie is a world-famous cheese that’s often comes to mind when looking to serve something crowd-pleasing and mild, and for good reason.  It is a soft, creamy, buttery cheese that originated in Seine-et-Marne, France, and is now produced internationally. It has a creamy interior with a soft, bloomy, edible rind of white mold. Traditionally made from cow's milk, brie can also be made from goat’s milk. It's flavor is rich, buttery, fruity, and increasingly earthy with age. When baked, it doesn’t melt down completely the same way some Alpine cheeses do–like the ones used for fondue–but rather it maintains its shape, and the center becomes an oozing, gooey delight. Because Brie and Camembert are both soft-ripened cheeses made from cow's milk and have edible white mold rinds and similar flavors, we have found you can substitute camembert for brie. Although their flavors are similar, brie tends to be milder with creamy and buttery notes, while camembert is deeper in flavor with mushroom notes and a stronger aroma.

Best Baked Brie Toppings – The Perfect Appetizer
Our staff here at Au Bon Goût Boutique tried several mixes and recipe combinations before determining that Gourmet du Village’s brie toppings are the best and the easiest to use, making them simple to serve a perfect Baked Brie.

Gourmet du Village Brie Toppings
We carry all six of Gourmet du Village delicious baked brie or camembert cheese mixes –all popular for baking brie or camembert cheese—and all recommended by our staff.  Served in any baked brie baker (Gourmet du Village also makes a baked brie baker as well as skillet kits) all their brie toppings are a mixture of natural blends of dried fruits, nuts, herbs & spices, and are super easy to prepare (just place the topping on top of a round of brie or camembert cheese, and then bake in the oven, and served with crusty artisan bread or crackers).

Gourmet du Village, Baked 5.5" Brie Cheese Cast Iron Skillet + Cranberry Almond Topping Set

Gourmet du Village Brie Topping Flavors
Gourmet du Village’s, classic Cranberry & Almond topping, (Gourmet du Village’s original recipe), is consistently our best seller especially for holiday entertaining. Their Apple & Pecans are the classic combination of apples and pecans, with a touch of cinnamon.  Pecans & Brown Sugar, another flavor, is a scrumptious brown sugar and pecan topping that will satisfy your sweet tooth. Fig & Pistachio has the sweet distinct taste of figs and the salty nutty flavor of pistachios. When sweetened with a little brown sugar, it is delicious.  Maple Walnut combines the sweet taste of maple sugar and the perfect texture of walnuts.  Lastly, try Apricot & Jalapeno as these two tastes pair perfectly with the buttery taste of a soft brie or Camembert cheese.  All these toppings have very easy to follow directions in both English and French.

Gourmet du Village Brie Topping Flavors

Brie Bakers are Recommended
If making baked brie for a party or social gathering, we recommend using a brie baker. The beauty of the cheese baker is simplicity. Place the cheese wheel in the baker, then add toppings (such as the Gourmet du Village Brie Toppings or you’re your own ingredients such as sliced fresh fruit, chutney, marmalade or honey or savory ingredients such as pesto, caramelized onions or sautéed mushrooms and sausage.  A topping of chopped nuts or bacon crumbles adds terrific crunch and textural contrast to melted cheese. The possibilities are endless.  The lid of the baker allows steam to gently heat the cheese, and the ceramic or stoneware holds the heat for a long time. Cleanup is easy and straightforward.

Gourmet du Village, Baked Brie Bakers in Red and White

While many recipes call for baking cheese in a ramekin or baking dish, a cheese baker is intended for serving as well as baking. Cheese bakers are easy to use and clean, relatively inexpensive, and versatile. In addition to being used for their primary purpose, they can also be used for making savory dips, small casseroles, gratins, or even for serving dessert-style dips. They make a nice gift for a bridal shower, housewarming, or a hostess gift.

What to Serve with Baked Brie Cheese
It is always suggested that the best thing to serve with any cheese is a local crusty Artisan bread or baguette, better than any store packaged cracker, accompanied by a fine glass of wine, and perhaps some fruit.  Of course, crackers are often more convenient as we all have some in our pantry, to truly enjoy the flavors of your favorite cheeses.  So, if using a cracker rather than a bread or toasted baguette, we suggest you use plain “table water” crackers. These are thin, hard and brittle, almost flavorless, and can be found in any grocery store.

You can accompany the baked brie with grapes, fresh fruit, and dried fruit, as well as a small ramekin filled with a French jam, preserves, or chutney if you want to go all out!  Lastly, mixed nuts are always a nice companion –not for topping the brie but providing a nice crunchy side.

Pairing Baked Brie with Wine

A question often asked is what wines to serve with a baked brie.  Brie and camembert are very versatile cheeses and pair nicely with a multitude of wines including some reds — Beaujolais, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, grenache, merlot, pinot noir and zinfandel.  White wines include chardonnay, chenin blanc, Gewürztraminer, Riesling and sauvignon blanc. And let’s not forget champagne and sparkling wines. A fine chilled Brut Champagne as well as a cava or prosecco can pair perfectly with camembert or brie.