Vegan Baked "Brie" en Croute (in Puff Pastry) with Vegan Red Wine Onion Jam

Yield: two wheels of vegan "brie"

When I was a vegetarian, one of my guiltiest pleasures was Brie en Croute or brie baked in puff pastry. Good grief that was a lot of calories, fat and cholesterol! I've been vegan for a few years now and, while I have made several different vegan cheeses that I love (and have included on this site), I had never attempted my beloved baked brie until today. I think I was afraid it wouldn't work and I would be inconsolable.

But, I steeled myself and went to work, though it was hardly any work at all. By slightly altering Jo Stepaniak's vegan brie recipe--essentially omitting the agar and water since I was going to bake mine--the "cheese" came together in a snap in the food processor. And with a fine vegan puff pastry readily available in the freezer section of most grocery stores, courtesy of Pepperidge Farm, the "croute" is a no-brainer too.

Since the base of the "cheese" is tofu and cashews, and since tofu bakes up nicely, there is no chance of oozing and running "seepage," as there is with diary brie. So there is really nothing to be concerned about. Hot out of the oven it is a glorious thing to behold and it tastes divine on its own or, especially, with grapes and my Vegan Red Wine Onion Jam.

I've enjoyed Brie en Croute with all kinds of delicious things baked inside or spooned over the top--e.g. chutney or a pecan praline sauce--but onion jam is so "in" these days and it's one of my favorite new condiments. You may cook it down as much as you like. I was starving and didn't cook it as long as I might have so, in the photo, it may be a little less "pulpy" than you will want yours. You can also control the texture by how thinly you slice the onion. You could even dice it instead.

Now, will the taste or texture fool anyone into thinking that this is true dairy brie? No, but it's so good (and a lot less oily) that no one will care except to be glad that the 8th deadly sin is now practically a virtue.

12-14 ounces extra firm tofu, drained
3/4 cup cashews (raw or, because I never have raw, I use roasted and lightly salted)
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
3 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2-2 1/4 onion powder
1 teaspoon salt (less if using lightly salted cashews)
generous 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground coriander
1 box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry
1 recipe Vegan Red Wine Onion Jam

Place first nine ingredients into a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth. Line two soup bowls, approximately 5 inches in diameter, with plastic wrap and scrape half of mixture into each one. Smooth tops, fold edges of plastic wrap down to cover the tops, and weight (I just used a flat-bottomed bowl, nested inside, with a heavy jar of peanut butter in it.) Refrigerate for 4 or more hours.

To assemble and bake: Remove both puff pastry sheets from the package and defrost on counter for 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 400. Carefully unfold puff pastry sheets and gently roll across the folds of each with a rolling pin just to help seal. Remove "cheese" molds from the refrigerator, and pull back plastic wrap from the tops. Invert each into the center of one of the sheets of puff pastry and remove plastic. Bring corners of each puff pastry sheet to the center of its disk of cheese, pleating and folding to cover "cheese" completely and so that it will lie fairly flat. Carefully flip each one over and place a few inches apart on an oiled or Silpat lined baking sheet. Coax each pastry pouch into a near perfect circle with the palms of your hands. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Remove baking sheet from oven, place on a wire rack and cool just a couple of minutes. Using a spatula, transfer each pastry wheel to a serving platter. With a serrated knife, slice "cheese" into small wedges and serve with seedless grapes and onion jam.

Vegan Red Wine Onion Jam:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, halved and slivered or diced (thickly or thinly; your choice)
coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine (I used a Chianti)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onions and salt generously to help extract moisture. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions began to soften and develop a little color. Add water, raise heat just a little if desired, and continue to cook and stir frequently until onions become quite soft and most of moisture had evaporated. Add remaining four ingredients and resume cooking and stirring frequently until onions are as pulpy as you desire and moisture has evaporated. Check for flavor balance, adding more sugar,wine, vinegar, lemon juice or salt to suit your taste. Feel free to flavor with a tiny pinch of cloves, cayenne, a bit of minced rosemary, etc., added in the last few minutes of cooking.

Source: Vegan brie base is adapted from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak.