Baked Brie is a special-occasion favorite, and very easy to make.

It goes great with sparkling and still wines and cocktails.

In the spirit of the season, this easy recipe from Liren Baker of Kitchen Confidante will have guests fighting for the cheese knife. It’s a good thing this recipe makes two wheels!

TIP: If you’re short of time, buy the whole cranberry sauce and only quickly the pecans in spice without candying. You’ll still have a holiday theme on top of the brie.

Note that Brie is capitalized because it is the name of a town. Many cheeses, especially in Europe, are named after their towns of origin, and are capitalized (Cheddar, Gouda, Munster, etc.) in the same way that one would capitalize Boston, Chicago, and New York if cheeses were named for them.

> A recipe for candied or spiced nuts is below.

> The history of Brie is below.

> The history of cheese.

> The different types of cheese: a glossary.
 
 
RECIPE: CRANBERRY POMEGRANATE BAKED BRIE

Ingredients For 2 Eight-Inch Wheels

 
Preparation

Our recommendation is to cook the cranberries two days in advance. The sweetness of the juice and sugar needs time to penetrate the tartness of the cranberries.

1. COMBINE the cranberries, pomegranate juice, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, turn the dial to simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until all cranberries have popped.

2. STIR in the pomegranate arils. Transfer to a jar with a lid; cool completely before adding the lid and placing the cranberries in the fridge. After the first day, taste and add more sweetener as desired.

3. REMOVE the cranberries from the fridge a few hours before serving; allow them to come to room temperature.

4. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Place the wheels of Brie on ovenproof serving dishes or on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 7 minutes, until the cheese starts to soften. Top with the honey and cranberry pomegranate sauce and return to the oven for about 2-3 more minutes, or until the Bzrie is gooey and soft.

5. REMOVE from the oven, top with candied walnuts, and garnish with rosemary. Serve warm with different breads and crackers.
 
 
RECIPE #2: CANDIED OR SPICED NUTS

You can candy the nuts—sugar only—or add spice for spiced nuts.

Ingredients For 1/2 Cup

 
For Spiced Nuts

 
________________

*Try this small amount and then increase the spices according to your preference.
 

Preparation

1. MELT the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sugar, stirring constantly until it dissolves. Take care that the mixture doesn’t scorch.

2. ADD the nuts and stir to coat thoroughly. Pour the nuts onto a sheet of aluminum foil and let them cool, about 15 minutes. Store for up to 2 days in an airtight container.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BRIE

Brie, the pillowy, soft, creamy, mild cheese beloved by many, hails from the Île-de-France of Northern France (the most populous of the 18 regions of France).

It is traditionally made from cow’s milk and is aged for different lengths of time, the longer of which produce a runny paste and mushroomy notes

The history of the cheese can be traced back to the Middle Ages and has become one of the most popular and well-known French cheeses.

Medieval Times. Based on its name, Brie is believed to have been created in the historic region of Brie, which is located in the eastern part of modern-day Île-de-France.

Brie cheese was originally made by Medieval monks there, produced as a way to preserve surplus milk.

As an aside: Cheese-making was a valuable skill, and fine cheeses were used to pay taxes and tithes to the local feudal lords.

The Renaissance. By the 17th century, Brie had traveled beyond France to European royal courts. It was served at the table of King Louis XVI and became associated with luxury and indulgence.

Over the centuries, production techniques for Brie cheese evolved. The cheese became more refined and creamy, with a characteristic bloomy white, edible rind.

Modern Times. In 1980, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, two distinct types of Brie cheese, received the prestigious Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (A.O.C.) status from the French government.

This recognition ensures that only cheese produced in these specific regions and following traditional methods can be labeled as “Brie de Meaux” or “Brie de Melun.”

Other Bries are made in Île-de-France, without an A.O.C. designation (and by definition, less splendid than the two A.O.C.s.

Brie is now enjoyed worldwide and is a staple on cheese platters, sandwiches (with prosciutto on a baguette, or grilled cheese), in salads, and various recipes.

While many Brie-style cheeses are still produced in France, they are also made in other parts of the world, often following similar techniques and recipes.

The French government officially certifies only two types of Brie, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun.

There is also now triple-cream Brie, which is even creamier and richer.

Some cheese-makers make smoked Brie (here’s a recipe to smoke your own).

In any form, Brie continues to be an iconic French cheese and a favorite among cheese enthusiasts around the globe.

[2] Fresh cranberries are best, but you can use frozen (photo © Ocean Spray).

[3] Pomegranate juice (photo © Pom Wonderful).

[4] Pomegranate arils (photo © Good Eggs).

[5] Honey (photo © National Honey Board | Facebook).

[6] Candied walnuts (photo © Babble.

[7] Rosemary is the “Christmas herb,” because it resembles evergreen (photo © Burpee).

[8] Brie: a global favorite among cheese lovers (photo © )

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] A monthly (or one-time) box arrives, frozen and portion-wrapped. [2] The Steak and Chops Box. The boxes differ somewhat each month depending on what’s best. [3] You have to cook your own meat, but the result is worth it (all photos courtesy ButcherBox).

What do you give loved ones who want to switch to all-natural and organic foods?

To those who want to start the new year on the Paleo Diet?

How about parents who only want to feed their children hormone-free, antibiotic-free meats?
 
WHY GRASS-FED BEEF?

Founder Mike Salguero, a follower of the Paleo Diet*, was first introduced to 100% grass-fed beef through a local farmer who sold quarter- and half-shares of cattle. Mike was instantly hooked, preferring the more natural taste of grass-fed beef and the many health advantages of grass-fed beef over conventional grain-fed beef.

He asked himself: “Why isn’t everyone eating this?”

The reason, he found, is that not everyone has access to grass-fed beef. Even if their market carries it, it is often limited to ground beef. Just 1% of the total beef consumed in the United States is 100% grass-fed.

Mike set out to make 100%† grass-fed beef accessible to those who want it. He sought the best farmers; he and the team tasted every month’s supply before buying it.

He added organic and free-range chicken and humanely raised heritage pork to the product mix, and made it simple to order and receive meat for the month.

Butcher Box works on a subscription basis: Sign up for the number of months you want. You can cancel at any time, change your box contents, set your schedule (every month, every other, every three months) and so on.

FOR GIFTS: You can send gift subscriptions or single boxes.
 
WHAT YOU GET

The team goes to great length to ensure that you’re wowed with each box you receive. Every cut from every farmer is tasted before ButcherBox buys it. If they don’t love it, you won’t get it.

ButcherBox won a blind taste test on the Today Show, and gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from own taste test as well.

ButcherBox offers four different monthly boxes, a balanced assortment of steaks, roasts, and easy-to-cook items like ground beef and tips. It arrives when you specify, portion-wrapped and frozen.

Each monthly box contains a balanced selection of 3-5 premium cuts, from ribeye to flat iron to short ribs. In addition to the rotating monthly choices, each box includes a premium blend of ground beef.

Based on the month’s contents, you can choose in advance to add on other options each month: New York strip steak, bacon, roasts, and so on. Its easy to customize your box to your household’s preferences.

The basic boxes are:

 
All boxes come with curated recipes that you can use to cook the month’s cuts.
 
WHAT IT COSTS

The box is filled with dry ice that’s carefully calculated to keep the contents frozen on your doorstep for up to 24 hours after arrival.

You receive a tracking number the night your box ships.
 
CAN’T WAIT TO START YOUR OWN SUBSCRIPTION OR TO SEND BUTCHERBOX AS A GIFT?

Head to GetButcherBox.com and start to drool!
 
________________
*The Paleo Diet emphasizes whole foods and proteins from grass-fed animals, whose meat is considered more flavorful. It is usually lower in fat and calories.

†Some cattle are 100% grass fed; others are fed with grass until six months before harvesting, when they are switched to grain to fatten them up.
  

Blood orange season runs now through May, offering the different types of blood orange.

Blood oranges are believed to have originated in either China or the Southern Mediterranean. They have been grown in Italy, Spain, and elsewhere since the 18th century, and are now the principal orange grown in Italy.

California is the number one grower of blood oranges in the U.S. California is the number one grower of blood oranges in the United States. Arizona, Florida, and Texas also grow the fruit.

The main varieties grown in California—the Moro, Sanguinello, and Tarocco—vary by the amount of rosy color inside and the intensity of the raspberry flavor. Some have some blush on the orange rind, and some have conventional orange rind color.

Enjoy your fill of these wonderful oranges, in:

 
Here are recipes for cocktails, salads, and mains (fish, lamb) and desserts (cheesecakes, soufflés).

Recipe #1, below, from The Circus Gardner, goes a step beyond and adds fresh herbs.
 
> The history of blood oranges.

> The types of blood oranges.

> The history of oranges.

>The history of cake and the different types of cake.

> The history of upside-down cake (below).

> There are more blood orange recipes below.
 
 
RECIPE #1: BLOOD ORANGE & THYME SORBET

One of our favorite ways to enjoy blood orange juice is in a sorbet.

Ingredients For 8 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the orange juice, maple syrup, and chopped thyme leaves in a large jug and stir or whisk to combine. Chill in the fridge for an hour.

2. POUR the chilled mixture into an ice cream maker and churn. Once it is starting to set, tip the sorbet into a freezer-proof container. Cover the container with a lid and freeze for at least 4 hours.

3. REMOVE the sorbet from the freezer and leave it to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
 

RECIPE #2: CANDIED CITRUS PEEL

Ingredients

 
Preparation

 

[1] The Moro variety of blood orange has less color and less raspberry sweetness than the…

[2]…Sanguinello variety (photos #1 and #2 © Good Eggs).

[3] Blood orange sorbet with a thyme teaser (recipe at left; photo © The Circus Gardener).

[4] The easiest way to enjoy blood orange, other than out of hand: as a garnish for lemon sorbet (photo © Little Park | NYC).

2. BOIL water in a small pan; add peel strips. Boil for 5 minutes, until tender.

3. REMOVE peels from water and whisk in sugar until dissolved. Return water to a boil; add peels and boil until syrup absorbs into the peel.

4. DRAIN cooked peel on paper towels. After they dry, you can store them in an airtight jar for a week.
________________

*SALAD RECIPE: One of our favorite salads: baby beets, shaved fennel, mesclun, and a touch of baby arugula (use baby spinach if you don’t like arugula), topped with a circle of goat cheese and optional toasted nuts. For the vinaigrette, you can reduce blood orange juice with white wine vinegar. Or, adapt the classic, dividing the acid and mixing half vinegar, half blood orange juice with olive oil or nut oil in the proportion of 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. We especially like hazelnut or walnut oil with this recipe, but olive oil is just fine. If you have French nut oil, which tends to be very dense in flavor, you can mix it with olive oil.
 
________________

RECIPE #3: BLOOD ORANGE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Pineapple Upside Down Cake is so retro. Put a modern spin on it with this recipe from Good Eggs.

This cake is best eaten within a few hours of baking. Another note: Good Eggs left the rinds of the orange slices since the result is so pretty. Most people may want to slice them off, so give everyone a fork and knife (a butter knife is fine).

This gorgeous cake from Good Eggs is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. Rich with the flavors of nutty polenta and blood orange, it’s a dazzler.

Prep time is 10 minutes, active time is 60 minutes.
 
Ingredients For 8-10 Servings

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Whisk the flour, polenta, baking powder, and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl…

2. CREAM together 8 tablespoons of butter and the granulated sugar with an electric mixer, to a fluffy, creamy consistency. Turn the mixer to low and beat in the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time.

3. ADD half of the flour mixture to the sugar-butter-egg bowl and combine with the mixer on low. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk. Gently fold in the blood orange juice with a spatula.

4. MELT the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in an 8-10″ cast iron skillet and mix in the brown sugar. Cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes until the sugar has melted.

5. REMOVE the pan from the heat and arrange the blood orange slices in a circular pattern at the bottom of the skillet. Pour the batter on top of the orange slices and smooth the top of the batter into a uniform layer with a spatula. Bake for about 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out dry.

6. REMOVE from the oven and let the cake rest for 10 minutes. To invert, use a sharp knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the skillet and fit a large plate over the top of the skillet. Hold either end of the skillet and plate together (with pot holders!) and flip the cake over onto the plate.

7. SERVE ASAP with a side of whipped cream.
 
 

[6] Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with buttermilk and brown sugar. Here’s the recipe.

[7] Use any seasonal fruit in an upside-down cake. In the summer, make a Peach Upside-Down Cake. Here’s the recipe from Zoe Bakes (photo © Zoe Bakes).

MORE BLOOD ORANGE RECIPES

Cocktails

 
Savory Dishes

 
Desserts & Sweet Dishes

 
 
THE HISTORY OF UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

At the beginning of the 20th century, James Dole set out to have canned pineapple in every grocery store in the country. He sold both fresh and canned pineapple grown in Hawaii, but the canned fruit wasn’t perishable, tasted great, and could be sold everywhere.

The arrival of canned pineapple and recipes to use it engendered the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. It was once America’s most popular cake. It was also known as a skillet cake because it was baked on the stovetop in a cast-iron pan.

The fruit is placed on the bottom of the skillet (or today, the pan); the batter was poured over it. The baked cake is inverted, and the fruit that was once at the bottom forms a decorative topping.

Today, some cooks still prepare the cake in a skillet, as with Recipe #3, below. but is baked in the oven for a more even result.

Nordicware makes a special pan with indentations to hold the pineapple rings in place in the oven, as well as a pan for individual upside-down minis. The pans have curved bottoms [not angular] to provide a pleasant shape to the inverted cake.

No one can pinpoint exactly when the upside-down cake appeared, but 1920s America is the best guess. Cookbooks and magazines published then confirm that canned pineapple was readily available and the maraschino cherry had become popular to garnish the center of the pineapple rings.

Let’s bring the upside-down cake into the 21st century. Recipe #3 (above) is a stunning blood orange upside-down cake. There’s nothing retro about it.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

For those who both like to bake cookies and eat French macarons, an inspired gift is Dana’s Bakery Macaron Making Kits.

One of our favorite macaron makers, Dana’s is known for innovative flavors and seasonal specials.

The kits are available in three of the most popular flavors:

 
Each kit includes ingredients for 20 two-inch macarons:

 
A video provides step-by-step guidance (below).

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to buy your own almond flour and make macarons galore in your favorite flavors and colors.

Each flavor is $24.00, three for $72.00. The baking mat is $18.00.

You may want to add a silicone baking mat, which the professionals use for “perfect results every time.”

Check ‘em out at DanasBakery.com.

If you’re concerned about what it takes to make delicious macarons, watch the video below.

Make your own macarons with this kit and baking mat from Dana’s Bakery.

[1] A light, moist fruitcake for people who don’t like the dense ones, from King Arthur Flour. [2] No candied citron here, just dried fruits! Use dried cranberries instead of cherries for a seasonal touch (photo courtesy Ocean Spray). In Merrie Olde England, where fruitcake began, they didn’t have cranberries. [3] Sultanas, or golden raisins, add more brightness than their dark purple relatives (photo courtesy BT.com).

Today is National Cake Day. What cake should you consider?

Fruitcake of course! Even though National Fruitcake Day isn’t for another month, on December 27th, why should you wait?

We love a good fruitcake. While most people have had bad experiences with commercial fruitcakes, here’s a quick and easy solution from King Arthur Flour that is both light and moist, thanks to sour cream.

This tasty fruitcake from King Arthur Flour features a sour cream pound cake base and a filling of dried fruits: cherries, apricots, pineapple and golden raisins. If you don’t like candied fruits, this is the cake for you! Pecans or walnuts complete the picture.

 
TIPS

 
RECIPE: SOUR CREAM FRUITCAKE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. SOAK the fruit: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the dried fruits and the 1/2 cup brandy or rum.
Set the fruit aside for 2 hours or longer. Stir occasionally, so the fruit absorbs the liquor evenly.

2. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour three 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pans. Alternately, line them with parchment, leaving an overhang on each side and securing the paper with metal binder clips.

3. MAKE the cakes: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fluffy after each addition. Stir in the brandy or rum.

4. WHISK together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add half the flour to the shortening mixture, and mix well. Add the sour cream, beating all the time, then add the remaining flour and blend well. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally to be sure all ingredients are evenly incorporated.

5. STIR in the fruits (they should have absorbed all the liquid; if not, don’t drain them) and the nuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.

6. BAKE the cakes for 55 to 65 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool in their pans for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on wire racks.

7. STORE, well-wrapped, for 5 days at room temperature. Freeze for up to 3 months.