Baked Camembert or Cheese Fondue

[Hazelnutlatteplease]

I'd like to do one of these, but feel a bit of a dunce about the whole thing.

Recipes for fondue I've seen seem to use a ridiculously expensive amount of gruyere. But baked camembert recipes seem to assume you will definitely have a box for the cheese whereas the
One I naturally would get doesn't. how much cheese do you use per a person?

Definitely over thinking this but could anyone talk me through

One Camembert between two people is enough, I've scoffed a whole one to myself and felt very sick!

I just use the "box" it comes in. I take the cheese out of the wrapper and stick it back in the box, then put it in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

If there is no box, it's fine to still bake. I put in an ovenproof dish with sides as high as the cheese. Like a flan dish. Snug fit is best but not essential.

If it springs a leak in cooking, it will be in the dish. Delicious.

On the fondu, lots of different cheeses work.

Main or starter or snack?

Fondue is a bit lighter but still incredibly rich. I LOVE cheese but you can very easily have too much!

Love snakes Camembert. Just whack some garlic and Rosemary in there.... only do one when we have a party. COVID has stopped my Camembert consumption

Ok.

So if I did camembert, can i cut it pop it in a ramekin and bake it individually? There three of us, id probably do it instead of dinner one evening before Christmas

What alternative/cheaper cheeses can i use?

Of course. You can even buy special camembert baking dishes. Which are basically the same thing. Don't cut them up though, they need to be baked whole.

Can you bake any Camembert? They had Camembert and baking Camembert in Tesco. I’ve never bought it before could somebody help? If you do it in a ramakin are you supposed to cover it?

Yeah you can bake any Camembert, and no you don't have to cover it.

I saw a baked Camembert in puff pastry in M&S. £14! So didn’t get it. But thinking of making a DIY version.

Scrunch up pastry round cheese, add garlic & rosemary I guess. Would you brush anything on the pastry to glaze though? And how long in oven? What heat?

Maybe cover the cheese with foil while baking? Might the high heat needed for the pastry burn the garlic otherwise?

To bake Camembert
You unwrap the cheese fully. Place whole in oven proof dish with sides higher than the cheese. Preferably a ramikin.
You then slice through the skin on top with diagonal slashes about 1cm apart.
Bake in oven at 180C for 25 minutes.

This will melt the inside nice and gooey. You then just peel back the top skin and enjoy.

You don’t cover it.