Baked Brie with Cranberry Compote

Don't overbake or cheese becomes rubbery. The brie should be soft but still hold its shape. Let guests break through the rind for the full experience.

Brie has been made in the region east of Paris since at least the 8th century — Charlemagne is reported to have tasted it at the monastery of Rueil en Brie in 774 AD and immediately arranged for regular deliveries to his capital. In 1217, King Philip II Augustus gave 200 wheels of brie as New Year's gifts to members of his court. By the 19th century its reputation had traveled far beyond France: at the 1815 Congress of Vienna, where European powers gathered to redraw the continent after the Napoleonic Wars, delegates from across Europe declared Brie de Meaux "the king of cheeses" in an informal competition among the continent's finest. Two of the most prized varieties — Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, both produced in the Seine-et-Marne region — were granted official AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) protection in 1980. The first wheels reached American shores in 1936. Baking brie is, however, an American invention: in France, brie is traditionally eaten at room temperature, where its texture and complex flavour are at their best. The idea of encasing or warming brie took hold in the United States in the 1980s, during the decade when French cuisine — popularised through cooking shows and a new generation of specialty food shops — became fashionable in American home entertaining. The pairing of warm brie with cranberry is quintessentially American, marrying an Old World cheese with a New World fruit whose sauce traditions date to 17th-century New England.