Baked Brie with Honey and Dried Cherries

I was at a first birthday party for one of baby lady's friends and I saw a beautiful wedge of brie on the table with some crackers.  Instant heaven.  I filled up my plate with some crackers and a piece of brie that was probably too large.  Not too large for me to eat...just that with so many people it probably wasn't fair to take a piece as big as I did.

Well after that I really had a taste for more brie.  And my favorite way to have it...baked of course.  A while back I posted a recipe for baked brie (here) but I didn't have any puff pastry.  I promised myself and anyone who happens to read here that the next time I made it, I would finally use puff pastry.  It was actually a goal that I had set for myself, seeing as I had never done it before.

So that night I finally did it.  I tweaked a recipe that called for some dried cherries and honey and went to town on it once it was finished.  Yes, B and I managed to consume an entire round of baked brie, no problem.  We've done it before and I can assure you that we will be doing it again.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1 T. water
1/2 c. dried cherries, softened
1/4 c. honey
1 puff pastry sheet (I used Pepperidge Farm's), thawed
crackers or french bread

How:
Heat your oven to 400ºF.  In a small bowl, beat the egg and the water with a fork.  Stir the cherries and the honey together in another small bowl.

Unfold the puff pastry on a floured surface and roll into a 14 inch square (that's what the original recipe said, but I couldn't get it to roll that far).  Spoon the cherry mixture into the center of the dough and top with the cheese.  Fold the dough up over the cheese and trim the excess pastry.  Brush the seams with the egg wash.   Place the brie seam side down onto a baking sheet or a brie bowl.  Decorate the top with scraps (see my feeble attempt at this above) if desired.

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand for 15 minutes and serve with crackers or crusty bread.

~To soften cherries, stir them in with 1/2 c. of hot water and let stand for 1 minute.  Drain and pat dry.

adapted from this recipe
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