What Is Camembert cheese and How Can I Use It?
Camembert cheese is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to get you started.
Key Points
- Soft Normandy cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind; brie's smaller, earthier, more pungent cousin.
- The small wheel ripens through, so eat it ripe and at room temperature.
- Bake it in its wooden box at 350F (175C) for 15 to 20 minutes until molten.
- Pair with tart apple, walnuts, and Normandy cider; eat the edible rind.
- Buy when it gives slightly and smells mushroomy; eat within a week, before ammonia sets in.
What is camembert cheese?
Camembert is a soft, bloomy-rind cow's-milk cheese from Normandy, France, sold as a small round wheel in a thin wooden box. It is brie's earthier cousin: same white rind and oozing interior, but more pungent, with deeper barnyard and mushroom notes.
Part of that punch comes from size. A camembert wheel is small, around 250 grams, so it ripens faster and develops a stronger flavor through the whole round than a wide slab of brie does.
The rind is edible and part of the experience. Trimming it off strips away much of what makes camembert taste like camembert.
How to use it
Let it come to room temperature before serving so the center turns soft and spoonable. At its ripe peak the paste should bulge gently when you cut the top off.
The classic move is to bake it in its own box. Unwrap the cheese, set it back in the wooden base, score the rind, and bake at about 350°F (175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes until the middle is molten.
The box holds the soft cheese together as a warm pot for dipping bread.
Camembert also melts into cooking. It enriches a Royal Camembert Mousse, blends into the Bavarian spread Octoberfest Obatzda, and even crumbs and fries up as Fried Deviled Camembert.
Pairing and mistakes
Its stronger flavor wants assertive partners: tart apple, fig, walnuts, grainy mustard, and a crisp cider, which is the traditional Normandy match. A baguette and a few cornichons round it out.
The usual mistake is eating it underripe and cold, when the center is chalky and the flavor flat. Buy it a little before you want it and let it ripen and warm.
The other is overbaking, since too long in the oven splits the fat and leaves a greasy, rubbery shell. Pull it the moment the center flows.
Substitutes
Brie is the obvious swap, milder and creamier; use it anywhere camembert is called for if you want to dial the funk down. For a closer match to camembert's stronger edge, look for a ripe Coulommiers or a well-aged brie.
In cooked dishes where you just need a soft melting cheese, a young reblochon or a triple-cream brie stands in, though neither carries camembert's earthy bite.
Buying and storing
Choose a wheel that gives slightly when pressed and smells mushroomy and fresh, not sharply of ammonia, which means it has gone too far. The rind should be mostly white with a few faint reddish flecks.
Keep it in its box, wrapped loosely in cheese paper or parchment, in the warmest part of the fridge so it can breathe.
It keeps ripening in there and is best eaten within a week or so, while the flavor is lively rather than overpowering. Camembert does not freeze well; thawing turns the paste grainy and bitter.
Quick facts
Where to find camembert cheese: Camembert cheese is usually found in the cheeses section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.
- In Chinese
- 卡门培尔奶酪
- British (UK) term
- Camembert cheese
- en français
- camembert
- en español
- queso camembert
Recipes using camembert cheese
There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Fried Deviled Camembert
Deep-fried Camembert dredged in mustard-herb flour and a spicy bread crumb crust with chili powder and cayenne. Crackling-crisp outside, molten cheese inside. A 30-second appetizer.
Obatzda (Cheese Spread)
Obatzda, the classic Bavarian beer cheese spread with ripe Camembert, cream cheese, butter, and caraway seeds. Rustic, pungent, and ready in 10 minutes. A beer garden staple.
Collector's Camembert Pie
Showstopping Camembert pie with Old Bay shrimp, asparagus, artichoke hearts, and tomatoes layered under a golden homemade brioche crust. A savory French-inspired masterpiece for entertaining.
Camembert & Walnut Pate
Creamy no-cook Camembert and walnut pâté with just 4 ingredients. Blended smooth with cream cheese and a squeeze of lime, it's an elegant appetizer ready in 20 minutes.
Royal Camembert Mousse
Royal Camembert mousse with Camembert and Roquefort cheese, whipped cream, and egg white set with gelatin. A molded French cheese appetizer chilled overnight, rich, airy, and intensely savory.
Danish Onion - Champagne Soup
Lavish Danish onion soup simmered with an entire bottle of dry champagne, Camembert cheese, and a silky port wine egg yolk liaison. Served over butter-fried bread. This is not your average onion soup.
Octoberfest Obatzda (Bavarian Cheese Spread)
With this simple and easy recipe, you can enjoy your Octoberfest wonderfully at home.
