Baked Camembert with Honey and Thyme

Room temperature cheese melts more evenly than cold. The wooden box is oven-safe and makes a rustic serving vessel. Don't overbake or the cheese will separate. The garlic should be sliced thin so it softens in the oven. Serve while still bubbly and molten.

Camembert is a soft-ripened French cheese from Normandy, and its creation is traditionally attributed to Marie Harel, a Normandy farmer from the village of Camembert who is said to have developed the cheese around 1791 with guidance from a priest from Brie. While this origin story is partially legendary, the Camembert style of soft-ripened cow's milk cheese was firmly established in the Normandy town of Camembert by the early 19th century. The Livarot and Camembert regions of Normandy had been producing soft cheeses since at least the 17th century, and Normandy's dairy culture — shaped by the region's lush pastures and the Normande cattle breed — produced the rich cream milk that enables the soft, runny interior texture. Camembert's distinctive white bloomy rind is created by Penicillium camemberti, the same mold used in Brie production. The mass-market wooden box format, which made Camembert portable for export to Paris and eventually worldwide, was introduced in 1890 by engineer M. Ridel, transforming a local Norman cheese into an international product. Baking camembert — placing the entire round in its wooden box and serving it as a communal dip — became a popular British and American trend from the 1990s onward, capitalizing on the fact that a well-ripened Camembert, when warmed, flows to the consistency of thick cream.