Brie topped with cranberries, toasted cinnamon pecans, and brown sugar all wrapped in a puff pastry. Has there ever been a more perfect appetizer for holiday gatherings?

Note: This recipe is a rendition of Paula Deen's Brie en Croute #2 recipe. Since we always seem to have a surplus of cranberries around the house over the holidays, I replaced the raspberry jam with a simple cranberry sauce recipe.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce - Prepare in advance

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

1 12 oz bag cranberries

Directions:

1. Transfer 1/2 cup cranberries to a side bowl

2. Place remaining cranberries in pan

3. Add sugar and water

4. Cook cranberries, sugar and water over low heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and the cranberries are soft, about 10 minutes

5. Increase the heat to medium and cook until the cranberries burst, about 12 minutes

11. Reduce the heat to low and add in the reserved cranberries

12. Add sugar and salt to taste

13. Let cool to room temperature

Cranberry and Pecan Brie en Croute

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 8 ounce wheel of Brie

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1 Tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup homemade cranberry sauce (see recipe above)

1 egg, beaten

Flour for work surfaces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Lay thawed puff pastry sheet on a cookie sheet. brush with flour and flatten out with rolling pin

3. In a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in pecans and cinnamon and toast for about 3 minutes

4. Cut rind off top of Brie - this allows for the cranberry sauce and pecans to melt into the cheese

5. Place pecan mixture on top of Brie.

6. Place brown sugar on top of pecan mixture. The heat of the pecan mixture will help melt the brown sugar

7. Place cranberry sauce on top of brown sugar

8. Bring the edges of the puff pastry up and twist them together- kind of like you would twist the top of a brown paper lunch sack

9. Using a pastry brush, brush the entire pastry with a beaten egg. This gives the puff pastry a nice sheen once baked

10. Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven or until the pastry is golden brown

11. Let sit for 20 minutes before devouring