Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce

Serves 6

Ingredients:

10 ounces Brie cheese, whole and round
1/2 cup cranberry sauce, homemade (see below for recipe) or canned

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place brie on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until soft.
2. Remove the brie from the oven and top with cranberry sauce. Return to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes. Let cool a bit before serving.

Notes:
Serve with: crackers or crusty bread.
No cranberry sauce: Use any jam, fruit spread or chutney instead.
Extra Toppings: crushed nuts, toasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Yield: 1 Cup

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar
½ cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

Directions:

1. Place the cranberries in a colander and rinse them. Pick out and discard any damaged or bruised cranberries.
2. Put the water and sugar in a medium saucepan on high heat and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
3. Add the cranberries to the pot and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the cranberries have burst.
4. Once the cranberries have burst you can leave the cranberry sauce as is, or dress it up with other ingredients. We like to mix in a half a cup of chopped pecans a pinch or two of orange zest.
5. Remove the pot from heat. Let cool completely at room temperature, then transfer to a bowl to chill in the refrigerator. Note that the cranberry sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.