Baked Brie with Bruleed Pears and Candied Pecans

Have you ever had an experience when someone asks you

to make a recipe that they think you have made before, and

you don't have that recipe in your arsenal?  

Well, that just happened to me.  My friend asked me to make

my Brie with sugared pears, and I asked if she meant my

Brown Sugar Baked Brie en Croute

that I serve with sugared pears, and she said that wasn't

the one.  I think she must have remembered something

that someone else had made, but maybe I could come

up with something to please her for her luncheon.

I decided that I wanted to use my torch to brulee the pears

rather than broil or bake them, or pan fry them.  

I have actually had my little kitchen torch for a long time,

but I couldn't get it to fill.  My son in law was over, and I

knew that he could figure it out, and he did!  Hooray!!!

Wish I would have asked ages ago, and I do mean ages!

With the soft textures of the warm cheese, and the bruleed pears,

I wanted a little crunch, so I added sugared pecans - so, so easy,

and the perfect touch.

Start by removing the top rind, and poking holes

with a fork.

Cover the top of the Brie with brown sugar,

then bake until the Brie is soft and runny. 

 See how that sugar has melted

and run down into the holes?  Wow!!

Then ripe Bartlett pears are dipped in sugar and placed

in a fan shape on top of the baked brie.

The pears are now caramelized and lightly cooked from

the torch.  The finishing touch is topping it with sugared pecans.

To tell the truth, I was tempted to just do my Brie en Croute,

but when she had said that wasn't the one, I was glad I played

around and came up with a new idea.  Everyone wanted to just

eat the appetizer and never move on to the main dish (although

that was fantastic too!)  Four of us ate the whole thing!  I am

making it again for Mother's Day dinner.  It is so simple, yet

fabulous.

Baked Brie with Bruleed Pears and Candied Pecans

6 inch wheel of Brie

1-2 T. brown sugar

2 ripe Bartlett Pears

1/4 C. white sugar

2 C. pecans

1/2 C. white sugar

1/4 C. water

1 baguette, cut, and toasted

Heat oven to 350.

With a sharp knife, remove the top of the Brie.  Poke the

Brie with a fork, and spread the brown sugar on the top of

the cheese.  Place the cheese in an ovenproof dish.  (I put

a piece of parchment paper under it, which you can see

in the picture, but I wouldn't do that again.  It made it

hard to cut the cheese into wedges.)

Bake for 15 minutes.  The cheese should be soft and melted.

While cheese is baking, place the 1/2 C. white sugar in a frying

pan with the 1/4 C. water.  Bring it to a boil and add the pecans.

Stir constantly.  The syrup will boil and get thick and all of

a sudden the moisture will all boil out, and it will turn sugary.

Pull it off the heat, and pour onto a piece of tinfoil.  Break

the clumps apart while they are hot.

When the cheese is melted, remove from the oven and 

top with sliced pears that have been dipped into the 1/4 C.

white sugar.  Use a kitchen torch to brulee the sugar on

the pears. 

Top with the pecans, and serve warm with toasted baguette.

You can also serve with additional sugared pears.

Mix 1 T. powdered egg white with 2 T. cool water.  Whisk

until smooth.  Paint the egg white on a clean, ripe pear.  Sprinkle

white sugar over the surface.  Set aside until the egg white dries.

This one will wow everyone, and it is so super simple.

We all fell in love with it!