4 Easy Ways to Enjoy Brie Cheese

Warm, comforting brie is a perfect winter-weather appetizer.

Get the recipe for Baked Brie with Chutney and Almonds here

There's no better time of year for over-the-top appetizer offerings like the present. From luxurious seafood displays to overflowing cheese and charcuterie boards, the holidays are a time to indulge in delicious pre-meal bites. And brie is one cheese that you can always expect to be the life of the party.

Related: The Secret to Making Baked Brie in 5 Minutes

Brie cheese is gooey, soft, and spreadable. Some younger varieties of the cheese are so buttery soft, in fact, that the center is almost molten! As creamy and delicious as brie is all on its own, this delicate cow's milk cheese also makes a decadent canvas for all kinds of tasty toppings. Whether you’re picking up a wheel of brie to serve for your next #girldinner or to tide over guests before a holiday dinner, you may want to dress it up a bit. That's when you follow the lead of TikTok creator Marissa Mullen @thatcheeseplate, and you try these four deliciously unique, seasonally-focused Brie cheese pairings.

Dates + Honey

Sweet and savory pairings are always a hit, and this ingredient combo adds wonderful caramel notes to a pillowy slice of brie. When shopping, look for large, soft Medjool dates that still contain their pits, which help keep them soft and pliable. Then simply slice your dates in half lengthwise and remove the pits.

Honey locks in the sweetness of this appetizer. Choose a local, unfiltered honey for a more complex flavor than your traditional grocery store find. For a touch of heat, drizzle on hot honey.

Related: The Easy Brie App That Takes a Few Seconds in the Microwave

Genoa Salami + Grainy Mustard

Together, the combination of creamy cheese, firm salami, and acidic mustard marry perfectly in this meat-lover’s bite. Brie has a naturally rich flavor and texture (the cheese contains up to 75% butterfat), meaning a slightly acidic topping like grainy mustard can cut through the richness. With a fatty and umami-rich personality, sliced Genoa salami was destined to go on top of your cheese. It also contains wine, which is acidic and bodes well with the bright flavor of the mustard.

Related: 31 Types of Cheese To Add to Your Next Charcuterie Board

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Fresh Figs + Honey

Fresh figs are vibrant and less sweet than dried dates, so honey is a must in this pairing to send it firmly into the sweet camp. The slice of fig adds a nice amount of crunch and a pop of bright pink color to your appetizer.

Marissa uses a slice of a mission fig in her video, but any variety of fresh fig will work here. Mission figs tend to be more earthy tasting (which is a nice contrast to the syrupy honey) while green-skinned Sierra figs have a sweeter, more berry-like flavor.

Related: Strawberry and Brie Bruschetta Recipe

Fig Jam + Almonds

This jam-almond upgrade is sweet, savory, and nutty, with a nice bit of crunch and the melt-in-your-mouth texture you expect from a bite of brie. You can always find jars of dark, seedy fig jam at the grocery store. This type of fruit jam is deeply caramelized in flavor with a a thick, gooey texture. If your jam is too sticky to spread on the cheese, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds until it’s loose enough to drizzle.

Marissa uses Marcona almonds for this pairing. These Mediterranean almonds are truly suited to sit atop a slice of brie - they're softer, sweeter, and a flatter shape makes for a better, easier-to-eat bite. Of course, regular almonds work well if that's what you've got.

What pairing will you try first?

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