Baked Camembert with Garlic and Rosemary
A whole Camembert baked until molten with garlic and rosemary — a dinner party classic whose origin story dates to the French Revolution, when a Normandy farmer named Marie Harel sheltered a priest from Brie and received a cheesemaking secret in return.
- 1 wheelcamembert cheese(8 oz, in wooden box)
- 3 clovesgarlic(thinly sliced)
- 3 sprigsfresh rosemary
- 2 tbspextra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsphoney(for drizzling)
- 0.5 tspblack pepper(freshly cracked)
Cannot be made ahead - cheese must be baked and served immediately. Have all accompaniments ready before baking.
- 1Preheat oven to 350°F
- 2Remove any plastic wrapping and return camembert to its wooden box, or place in small baking dish
- 3Score top of cheese in crosshatch pattern, cutting about 1/4 inch deep
- 4Insert garlic slices and rosemary sprigs into cuts
- 5Drizzle with olive oil and season with black pepper
- 6Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is completely soft when pressed
- 7Drizzle with honey and serve immediately
- 8Provide crusty bread, crackers, and apple slices for dipping
Camembert in a wooden box is essential - it bakes right in the box. If only plastic packaging is available, use a small oven-safe dish. The cheese should be at room temperature before baking for even melting. Don't overbake or cheese will become rubbery. Add a splash of white wine before baking for extra flavor.
Camembert is one of the world's most famous cheeses, and its creation story is inseparable from the upheaval of the French Revolution. Wikipedia confirms that the cheese was first made in 1791 by Marie Harel, a farmer from the Norman village of Camembert, "following advice from Abbot Charles-Jean Bonvoust who came from Alençon" — a priest from the Brie region whom Harel sheltered from revolutionary persecution. Wikipedia credits Harel with having "refined a previously existing cheese recipe from the Pays d'Auge region," since soft cheeses had been made in the village since at least 1680 by multiple accounts. The white, bloomy rind that defines Camembert results from Penicillium camemberti mould, a technique Bonvoust appears to have brought from his Brie-making homeland. Harel's daughter and her descendants developed the commercial production of the cheese; in 1863 the pivotal moment came when Marie Harel's grandson Victor Paynel offered a taste to Napoleon III during a railway inauguration stop at Surdon. The Emperor was delighted and began ordering Camembert for service at the Tuileries Palace — an imperial endorsement that transformed the obscure Norman cheese into a national symbol. In 1890, the French engineer Eugène Ridel invented the round wooden box still used today, solving the long-standing problem of how to transport a delicate, soft-rinded cheese over long distances without destroying it. During the First World War, Camembert was included in the daily rations of French soldiers on the front line. The AOC designation protecting "Camembert de Normandie" was granted in 1983, with PDO status following in 1992, limiting authentic production to raw milk from Norman cattle. Baking a whole Camembert in its wooden box with garlic and rosemary is a tradition rooted in Normandy farmhouse cooking that became a widely popular dinner party presentation across Britain and Europe from the 1990s onward.