A Cheese-Filled ‘Pumpkin’ Is the Perfect Holiday Appetizer

I can’t turn down pumpkin-themed foods, regardless of their actual pumpkin content. Anything goes—pumpkin desserts, pumpkin beers; even things that are just pumpkin-shaped. That’s precisely why an adorable, pumpkin-shaped baked brie fits my needs this fall. It also happens to be damn delicious.

What’s a baked brie?

Baked brie is a celebrated cool-weather appetizer. An entire wheel of brie cheese wrapped in puff pastry and baked until puffed and golden. I’ll take five, thanks.(You can also bake several wheels in a big ol’ pan.) It’s usually accompanied by a complementary layer of sweet jam and maybe some crunchy nuts. The result is a liquid cheese bomb bound to a layer of buttery pastry. The pumpkin preparation appeals to my festive-holiday-food reptilian brain, so I can’t resist.

How to make a pumpkin-shaped baked brie

For a normal baked brie, you’d simply bake it after wrapping, but there’s an extra step in order to make a wee pumpkin. After wrapping the cheese in pastry, you’ll wrap kitchen twine around the entire thing, in regular intervals, and leave the twine on during baking. The pastry expands while the string restricts the expansion in thin bands. When the twine is removed, the shape resembles our favorite autumnal squash. Use my method below to avoid the hiccups I noticed with other recipes across the internet.

Arrange the kitchen string like an asterisk, so all of the lines cross at the same center point.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Step 1: Lay out the string on parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Cut five pieces of butcher’s string, each one 15- to 18-inches long, and butter them. It’s an unconventional step, but trust me, you want to grease them. In the center of a parchment paper-lined sheet tray, lay out the strings in an asterisk-like pattern. The strings should all cross in the center. Start with an X-shape and lay the next three pieces across so they’re all evenly spaced. These will be your pumpkin’s lumps, if you will.

Lay the puff pastry on the sheet tray and string, top with jam and the wheel of brie.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Step 2: Arrange the puff pastry and brie cheese

Lay a sheet of thawed but chilled puff pastry over the strings. You’ll be able to see the impression of the strings underneath. Try and put the center of the strings at the center of the pastry. Put a few tablespoons of jam, or nuts, or any fun combination of goodies you like on the puff pastry, right in the center. Place the wheel of brie on top. I used Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Spread, chopped walnuts, and an eight and a half-ounce wheel of truffle brie.

Step 3: Fold up the pastry

Wrap the puff pastry up and around the brie snugly, without stretching the dough. If at any point the pastry gets too soft, pop the whole sheet tray in the freezer for four or five minutes to firm it right up. Cut off excess pastry rather than building up a knot of dough. (Save the scraps of puff for these recipes!) Pinch any seams closed.

The strings have been tied and the entire brie has been flipped so the knots are underneath.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Step 4: Tie the strings and flip

Tie opposite ends of each string together at the top. If you get confused over which string ends are attached, give them a gentle tug to see. Tie the pieces, in evenly spaced intervals so they hug the pastry firmly, but not so tightly that they cut into it. Use the parchment paper to help you flip the entire brie over so the knots are on the bottom.

Step 6: Bake your pumpkin

Brush the pastry with a touch of egg wash and pop it into a 400°F oven for 25 minutes or so, until fully puffed and golden even on the spots that don’t have egg wash.

The pastry puffs between the strings to make the perfect pumpkin-shaped baked brie.Photo: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Step 7: Cut the strings and decorate (aka free the brie)

While the pumpkin-shaped baked brie is still hot, cut the strings with a sharp knife or scissors at the top, and slide the strings out from under the pastry. The string might stick to some spots, but the butter you greased it with should keep it from clinging too much. Try to be gentle.

Plate the pumpkin, make a little stem out of anything stick-shaped and poke it into the top. I used a cinnamon stick with sage, but you can use a pretzel stick, veggie straw, celery stick, or breadstick. Regardless of your flavor combinations, your pumpkin-shaped baked brie is sure to be a star appetizer. Serve while hot.