MELTING CAMEMBERT

A delicious fondue-like, gooey dip to be savoured with fresh, crusty bread.

Be as creative as you like with your fillings.  I often use the combination of FRESH THYME and fragrant PINK PEPPERCORNS but you can also try ROSEMARY and add finely shredded PRESERVED LEMON.   Or experiment with finely chopped CHILLI (or chilli flakes) and ORANGE ZEST.. One of my favourite combinations is chopped HAZELNUTS, fresh THYME and a drizzle of HONEY… For the alcohol you can use KIRSCH or POIRE WILLIAMS (or another EAU DE VIE such as PRUNES).  Or perhaps a little SWEET DESSERT WINE like a MUSCAT.  You need:

1 Camembert in a wooden box (stapled, NOT glued)
Eau de Vie or sweet white wine
fresh thyme
a grind of freshly ground pepper
a few pink peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 180’C.  Open the wooden box and remove the cheese from its paper. Discard the paper and  place the cheese back into its little wooden box, doubling up with the lid. Score the cheese and gently squeeze to open the cuts. Drizzle with the alcohol, then sprinkle with fresh thyme, black pepper, and/or anything else you fancy.  Bake for about 15 minutes and serve with plenty of crusty French for dipping and dunking.