One of my favorite flavor combinations is spicy pepper with a soft cheese to ease the heat. This recipe delivers offering the best of both worlds - medium intensity spiciness with the gentle bite of brie to spread the heat around.

An easy appetizer and nice for a winter weekend when company is coming over. This recipe will serve about 5-6 guests.

1 can / tin of refrigerated crescent roll dough (Pillsbury Crescent rolls are a good choice)

1 brie cheese wheel, about 4-6 ounces in weight

1 tablespoon hot pepper / Jalapeno sauce - you control the level of heat

1 egg, beaten and in a small bowl with a pastry brush handy

2 tablespoons of cranberry preserves, whole berry preferred

1 package of water or rice crackers for serving. Triscuits are also a nice choice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (check crescent roll package for actual recommended temperature for baking.)

Don't pull apart the crescent roll into triangles. Rather, work the crescent dough into a circle that's large enough to accommodate and completely wrap the brie. The dough will stretch better without breaking when it is cold, so be sure to keep the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to start.

Once the circle is large enough, place your (unwrapped) brie wheel in center of the dough circle. Next, take a fork and poke the top of the cheese about 10 times. Measure half of the hot sauce and drizzle it over the top of the cheese, giving it a minute or two to fully to sink into the holes. (Use the back of a spoon and spread it around with that too.) Then add the remaining hot sauce, making a few more holes in the brie (if necessary) for the sauce to soak into.

Don't worry too much if some of the sauce remains on top or dribbles over the edge of the wheel. But you do want most of the sauce to enter the cheese and enhance the flavour from within.

Now you're ready to encase the cheese with your pastry circle. Fold the dough over the top of cheese, working clockwise and using a little of the beaten egg to help seal each edge over itself. Finally, brush the top edges with beaten egg to seal the top and give a nice colour when baked.

Place the encased cheese onto a non-stick baking sheet.

Bake for approximately 10 minutes, following the time and temperature directions on the crescent roll package. If you over-bake though, the cheese will melt and turn your pastry to goo from the inside. You want to bake until the pastry is cooked and a nice golden-brown color; just watch the time carefuly on this one.

Spoon cranberry preserves over top right after taking the cheese out of the oven, and serve immediately on a platter with crackers and a small knife to cut the wheel. You can present the wheel with a small triangle already cut out for serving ease.

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