Whipped Brie Puffs

My last post, Nutella ice cream, was the most popular recipe I've ever put up on this site.

So how do you follow that up? One approach would be to put up a throwaway recipe that I know couldn't possibly compete. I'd just figure that everyone's going to see that delcious bowl of ice cream in the "Recent Posts" list and click right over, no matter how great the new recipe is.

But I am not the giving-up type. So this is another recipe that is, quite frankly, a home run. Light, fluffy and just a little bit sweet, but decadent and rich at the same time. In my kitchen, these were gone about as fast as the nutella ice cream -- they were that good.

I first called these my gourmet cheese puffs, but they deserve a more dignified name -- the idea of whipped brie was taken from the loftiest of culinary sources: of course, Thomas Keller. Although the honey and the puff pastry are mine -- he serves whipped brie on its own, as part of a cheese course. I'm sure that way is delicious too, but I loved my sweet little cheese bites just as much.

Whipped Brie Puffs

INGREDIENTS

1 sheet puff pastry, rolled out and cut into 16 squares

8 ounces brie cheese (I used Ile de France, because they sent it to me, and it worked great!)

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp honey

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. When the oven is heated, bake the puff pastry squares in mini muffin tins. Prick the bottoms with a fork before putting them in the oven. Bake until puffed and golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, whip together the cheese, heavy cream, and one tablespoon of honey until the texture is smooth and fluffy, but still thick (about 7 minutes). Don't use a whisk, use a regular beater.

Transfer the brie mixture to a pastry bag with a star tip. Pipe the brie mixture onto the puff pastry cups and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of honey. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 16 hors d'oeuvres.