Toffee Brie w Hazelnuts

TIFFIN Stockpiles
I’ve been spending a bit of time on Pinterest lately, learning more about ‘rich pins’ and how they are purported to boost traffic to TIFFIN. Pinterest is a lot like YouTube. You go to the site to visit something specific, you click through to check it out and the next thing you know, you’ve wasted endless hours looking at things you never thought you had an interest in. Who’d have thought I needed to see that acerbic Elizabeth Taylor meme? And just for the record, there are some great Halloween costumes out there. It was during one of these trips down the rabbit hole that I spied a particularly attractive and well styled photo of a wheel of brie coated in toffee, crowned with toasted nuts. Pin. Oh look, there’s another one. Pin. Better just see if there are any more I can pin in case I need to reference them. Pin. Pin. Pin.

TIFFIN De-Clutters
Just like bookmarking recipes for later, pinning pictures ‘To Review’ can quickly lead to hundreds of pins. So, it was time for me to curate my pins, getting rid of some and moving other to different boards. Whilst tidying my pins, I re-discovered the Toffee Brie and decided to give it a go for myself. I would have used pecans but was all out, so hazelnuts it was.

This Toffee Brie recipe is so quick and easy that it’s almost not a recipe. Simple to make but an absolute showstopper upon the reveal at a dinner party or picnic. It is an excellent addition to the festive menu where you can go for maximum Wow! for minimum effort. If you have a big group, simply double the ingredients and coat two cheeses. Make sure you have a good cheese knife so it can cut the soft cheese and hard toffee with a satisfying crack.

Visit the world of Pinterest and Tiffin’s pin boards where you will find yourself tumbling deliciously down the rabbit hole. While your there you can check out my Toffee Brie rich pins. TIFFIN on Pinterest.

Toffee Brie with Hazelnuts

This recipe is simple but you need to pay attention lest the sugar over caramelise and burn. It only takes a few minutes so it can be made just before serving so the cheese is soft and oozing.

Ingredients

• 1 x round of ripe brie or camembert
• 1 cup (240g) caster sugar
• 100g roasted hazelnuts, pecans or toasted flaked almonds

Method

• Unwrap the cheese and place it on a piece of baking paper on a chopping board (you will be transferring it to a plate later).
• Prepare your nuts if you are toasting, chopping or keeping whole as desired.
• Place the sugar in a small non-stick saucepan of frying pan and place on a low-medium heat. Do not add any water!
• Gently tilt and roll sugar around in pan so that it dissolve and starts to form a toffee. There is no need to stir as long as you are gently tilting and moving the toffee around.
• The colour will turn from clear to pale straw to amber. Once it starts to darken, this will happen quickly so be ready to remove it from the heat. It will take around 10 minutes but may take longer depending on how low your heat is and how heavy your pan is.
• Quickly add the nuts to the toffee and then pour toffee and nuts over the top of cheese. The toffee will start setting instantly.
• Transfer the Toffee Brie off the baking paper and onto a serving platter with crackers and other cheese board accompaniments.

1 cheese round serves 4

If you are not serving the cheese immediately, set it aside until you are ready. Try to keep it out of the fridge unless it is a scorchingly hot day (yes, Qld, I’m looking at you) as soft cheeses such as brie and camembert are best served at room temperature.