Quince Cheese & Brie: A Little Kitchen Twist

You know when you make something and then start wondering what else you can do with it? That's where we are in my kitchen with quince cheese ...

Now, quince cheese is perfectly happy doing its usual job on a cheeseboard. A little square alongside a lovely sharp cheese, a few crackers and some pickles, and everyone's perfectly content. Nothing wrong with that at all ... But where's the fun in leaving well enough alone?

Because if you've got a batch of homemade quince cheese sitting in the kitchen, there's an opportunity here. And it involves Brie.

Quince Cheese & Brie - A little cheese-on-cheese mischief

Take a lovely slice of Brie and slice it carefully in half horizontally, so you've got a top and a bottom.

Now, take your quince cheese. Mine was firm enough to slice neatly, so I used one half of the Brie as a guide to cut a matching round of quince cheese.

Pop your quince cheese between the two halves of Brie, put the top back on, and there you have it ... Brie with a secret. Cut into it and that beautiful quince cheese reveals itself in the middle, a ruby-red ribbon running through the creamy white cheese. It's rather pretty, actually, and looks as though you've gone to considerably more trouble than you really have.

The quince brings its fragrant, sweet-tart flavour, while the Brie does what Brie does best: turns up all soft, creamy and ready to be spread on something. Serve it with crackers, a few pickles and perhaps a glass of something lovely. Put it on the cheeseboard and let people discover what's hiding inside .. Or tell them. I'm not sure I could resist showing it off.

Don't stop at the cheeseboard

This is really just a little reminder that homemade preserves and seasonal ingredients don't have to stay in the jars, or be used only in the way you first imagined.

Sometimes a little kitchen twist is all it takes to turn something familiar into something worth talking about.

And if anyone asks whether you've made a quince cheese-stuffed Brie, you can tell them yes.

If they ask whether it was difficult, you can look suitably mysterious ... We don't need to tell them everything, do we?