Make This Magnificent Cheesy Bread Bowl ‘Fondue’ In Less Than 30 Minutes
This tastes as glorious as it looks.
Bloomin’ bread or cheese bread bowl, call it what you will — we liken it to a bread ‘fondue’. But a thick wheel of melting cheese nestled atop a beautifully brown sourdough loaf is our favourite new party food.
The dish looks impressive, but merely involves gathering a bunch of good ingredients like a quality loaf of sourdough (we got ours from Starter Lab), deliciously pungent Camembert and some cold cuts such as acorn-fed jamon Iberico bellota (both from Classic Deli).
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Dig a hole
All it takes is neatly carving out a mound in the loaf on which the camembert will snuggle within, making strategic slits in the camembert, then baking it in the oven till the cheese is hot and oozy. Then sprinkle with some fresh herbs and serve with the accompaniments on a bread board before sitting down in greedy fellowship with your guests.
Serve with your fave cold cuts
Of course, you can serve it with anything you want — carrot sticks, apple slices, sausages, potato chips or ham. Think of this as a fondue whose carby bowl you can also eat.
CAMEMBERT ‘FONDUE’ IN A SOURDOUGH BOWL
Serves 4 to 6 pax
Ingredients:
1 round sourdough loaf (about 25cm diameter)
1 wheel camembert cheese (about 250g)
A few rosemary or thyme leaves
Sides, to accompany:
Sliced cold cuts, like assorted ham and salami
Cherry tomatoes on the vine
Method:
1 Preheat oven at 180°C. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2 Use a knife to cut a circle in the centre of the bread to fit the diameter and depth of the wheel of cheese.
3 Using hands, rip out the insides of the bread within the hole and cut the bread into cubes. You will use it for dipping into the cheese later.
4 Make shallow cuts on the surface of the cheese with a knife to form a square grid — this is to allow for easier dipping later. Place the cheese into the hole in the loaf.
5 Set the loaf on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is gooey and melty.
6 Transfer the loaf to a serving board, sprinkle with rosemary or thyme leaves, and serve hot with cold cuts, cubed bread and tomatoes.
Photos: Kelvin Chia
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