It’s coming up close to Christmas and this year the family Christmas celebrations are happening at my place. We’re a month out and I need to start thinking about what I’m going to be serving up on the day. I know that I want to be able to incorporate the wonderful cheeses that I’ve been making this year, and what better way to do that than in the pre-dinner snacks or starters?

So I came up with some Christmas starter ideas and after narrowing down I’ve decided that I’ll be serving up a Cheese Filled Brioche Christmas Tree (yum!) as well as a Christmas Cheese Board.

Cheese Filled Brioche Christmas Tree

Summer Christmas Verses White Christmas

The cheese board got me thinking, what cheese should I serve up based on the Christmas weather? Where I live, it is summer and Christmas is usually a hot day. But what about all of my readers who have a classic White Christmas?

So, because I want to include all of the Curd Nerd community in these cheesy Christmas starter ideas, I will be putting together 2 different cheese boards in the next few weeks.

One will be perfect for hot weather, and one for cold weather. I’ll post up my ideas and hopefully some of you can gather some inspiration from it and serve up one at your own Christmas dinner.

A Classic Baked Camembert To Inspire A Christmas Starter

Back to the Cheese Filled Brioche Christmas Tree. I had some Camembert just waiting to be enjoyed and I absolutely love a baked Camembert. So I took a classic brioche recipe and adapted it to include my beautiful cheese.

I haven’t made brioche buns before so I decided to try my hand at it this week and see how it turns out before Christmas comes. I created a video of how they turned out, which you can see below. And in case you’re wondering, they turned out great and I will definitely be making them for Christmas. I know they will be a hit.

Each brioche bun is filled with oozy delicious Camembert. And then there is a full baked Camembert in the middle of the tree to dip the buns into. Of course, if you haven’t made any Camembert you can substitute it with whatever meltable cheese you have lying around in your cheese cave. And you can replace the baked Camembert in the middle for a fresh cheese such as cream or ricotta cheese made into a dip.

A quick note on the recipe – due to egg allergies in the family I had to use a substitute. If you are okay with egg, then you can use 1 whole egg instead of the ground flaxseeds. You can also mix one egg yolk with the milk for the wash before the buns are baked. This will give them a nice shine.

I am in love with this recipe! The Cheese Filled Brioche Christmas Tree is:

Soft
Satisfying
Ever so slightly sweet
Cheesy
Melty
& Delicious

So without further ado, here is the recipe.

Camembert Brioche Christmas Tree

Ingredients

• 2 rounds of Camembert (or another meltable cheese that you have stored in your cheese cave)
• 1 cup   warm water
• ¼ cup   warm milk
• 2 tsp   dried yeast
• 2 ½ tbsp   caster sugar
• 3 cups   00 (strong) flour, sifted
• ⅓ cup   plain flour, sifted
• 65g   unsalted butter
• 1 ½ tsp   salt
• 1 tbsp   ground flaxseeds mixed with 3 tbsp water
• ¼ cup   milk (to spread on buns before baking)

Method

1. Combine the warm water and milk in a bowl with the dried yeast and the caster sugar. Mix well and then cover with plastic wrap and leave aside for 5 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the 00 flour and the plain flour. Add the butter and work the butter into the flour, making sure that you use your fingertips so that the butter doesn’t melt. You are after a crumbly mixture.
3. Next, add the flaxseed and the yeast mixture, which has already rested for 5 minutes. Combine this to make dough and knead for 5 minutes.
4. Add the salt to the dough and knead for another 7 minutes, until the dough is smooth, stretchy and a bit sticky.
5. Rest the dough for at least 3 hours. Overnight is preferable. The dough should double in size.
6. Line a baking tray and cut one round of your Camembert into 16 pieces.
7. Pre heat your oven to 200 ˚C
8. Roll the dough into a log shape on a floured workbench. Divide the dough into 16 pieces. Take the first piece and holding the dough in one hand, use the other hand to stretch it out and fold it back onto itself. Do this in a circular pattern until you have formed a ball. Then open up the bottom of the dough ball and place a piece of Camembert into the center. Follow the same technique of stretching and folding the dough in a circular motion to close the dough around the cheese. Roll the dough to perfect the ball shape and set aside. Continue for all 16 pieces.
9. Place your 2^nd Camembert onto your baking tray and organize the buns around the Camembert into a Christmas Tree shape. Then remove the Camembert and brush the buns with milk. Bake for 15 minutes. Note – I placed an ovenproof bowl in the centre of the tree while baking to ensure there would still be enough space for the Camembert after the buns cooked and expanded.
10. Once the buns are finished, place the Camembert onto a lined tray and bake for 7 minutes, or until it is soft but hasn’t lost its shape. Then transfer the buns onto your serving dish, place the baked Camembert in the center and decorate with rosemary.

So, that it! It’s such a simple Christmas starter idea, yet it is so satisfying! Give it whirl and let me know what you think over in the forum. And feel free to ask any questions that you may have as well.

I will be posting my Summer Christmas and White Christmas Cheese Boards in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Curd Nerd Forum

Usually, I give out different cheeses, wrapped up nicely as gifts. This year, instead of giving them out, we will be sharing them together. I have decided to start off our Christmas meal with both the Brioche Christmas Tree (which turned out exceptionally well in my trial run) as well as a Christmas Cheese Board before serving the main meal.

How To Choose The Right Cheese For A Christmas Cheese Board

What do you put on a Christmas Cheese Board? Well that depends on 2 factors. Firstly, what cheese do you have stored in your cheese cave? And secondly, what will the weather be like?

To address the first factor, you will be able to work with whatever cheese you have made up and stored throughout the year, regardless of the weather. Get creative and use your cheese instincts; it will turn out great!

And if you don’t have any cheese already made up, there are still a couple of weeks until Christmas, which means there are a variety of fresh cheeses that you’ll be able to make before Christmas comes. Here are some that I would recommend trying your hand at.

A Quick Cheese To Make

Chevre – This will only take a couple of days to make and you will be able to store it for 2-3 days in your fridge. It has a very mild taste so can be easily flavoured with herbs or condiments. This makes it perfect for a cheese board.

Cream Cheese – Make this cheese in 2-3 days and store in your fridge for 2 weeks. Cream cheese may not be your first thought for a cheese board, however you can make a variety of dips with it, or serve it as is with chorizo or smoked fish.

Queso Fresco – This beautiful cheese only takes a few hours to make and can be stored for 1 week in your fridge. This is the perfect cheese for beginners! It has a mild taste so will adopt any flavours you decide to make or serve with it.

Rich Ricotta – Make this in a couple of hours and store for 5 days in your fridge. You can use this in a similar way that you would use cream cheese.

Feta – Make it in 4 days and store for several weeks in brine or flavoured olive oil. This is a great choice for a cheese board as it can be served as pre-cut cubes or as a block for guests to cut themselves. Plus, if you store the feta in olive oil you can add some great flavours to it to make it the star of your board.

Mozzarella – This will take 2-3 days to make and can be stored for 7 days in your fridge. Perfect for a summer board, it can be served up traditionally with tomato and basil.

You can pick any number of these to create a variety fresh cheese board. Yum!

Hot Christmas Verses Cold Christmas

And to address the second factor – the weather. Where I live Christmas is a hot summers day. And the cheese that I would normally serve up in summer is different to what I would pull out in winter.

This got me thinking about all of the Curd Nerds on the other side of the world who may want to serve up their delicious home made cheese for a White Christmas.

What better way to include the whole community than to create and share 2 beautiful Christmas Cheese Boards? One fit for a White Christmas and one for a Summer Christmas.

I’m Dreaming Of A White Christmas

I have never had a White Christmas, and with family over in England I would love to head over there one Christmas and experience it for myself. Never the less, I have spent quite a bit of time in the snowy mountains of Australia and New Zealand and can get a good grasp on what sort of cheese board I would love to put together for a White Christmas.

These are the cheeses that I would recommend for a Christmas cheese board in the cold:

Creamy Rich Blue

Rich Ricotta

Gruyere

A well aged Manchego

Brie

Camembert

Farmhouse Cheddar

The reason I pick these cheeses for winter are for their hearty, warming, rich tastes and textures. Of course, if your personal favourite is not on the list, go ahead and use that anyway.

After going through my own cheese cave, I have decided that I will be using Brie, a creamy blue and Manchego

Loading Up The White Christmas Cheese Board

And of course, you can’t have a Christmas Cheese Board without a few other condiments. Here is my full list of what I am including in on the White Christmas Cheese Board:

Brie

A Creamy Blue

Manchego

Cranberry sauce

Caramelized onion jam

Bread

Chorizo

Walnuts and dates

How To Put It Together?

Quite simply, choose your favourite platter or cheese board, get all the ingredients on there and make it look good!

So there you have it, a perfect way to share your home made cheese with your family and friends for an extra special White Christmas.

I will be posting my take on a Hot Summers Christmas Cheese Board next week. So if your Christmas is hot like mine, stay tuned.

Curd Nerd Forum