EBENEZER

Well bah humbug, just the end of another long year, says Scrooge. This is the antidote. Follow our tips to transform your cold wheel of Ebenezer into the most prized hors d’oeuvre of the season.

Warm it.

Cheese is alive! As it matures, it ripens. The first step is to assess your wheel; put it out on the counter about 2 hours before you want to serve it. 

After a couple hours, unwrap your Ebenezer (save that cheese paper just in case) and use a sharp, thin knife to test a small section of the top to see if it begins to come away easily from the paste. If you have a more mature wheel that you’ve been saving for Christmas eve, it may be ready to go at room temperature. You may still want to warm it a bit to make it spreadable - some people like it more molten than others. Make it the way you like. 

If at room temp the paste is still firm and not yet loose and pudding-like, you’ll want to apply a little heat. There’s no hard and fast recipe, but you can quickly learn to use your senses to determine when your Ebenezer is warmed through to your liking. 

Preheat your oven to about 200F and choose the plate or platter that you want to use to serve your Ebenezer (most ceramic or glass dishes will be fine at this temperature). Once warmed through, the bottom rind will be delicate and difficult to move without tearing and the loose paste spilling out. 

Check every 3 minutes to see how your test section is peeling. Remember, this is not a baking undertaking like a puff pastry and brie dish, but a gentle warming. 

Peel it.

When the test section begins to easily separate from the paste, decide if you want to remove the whole top rind; if it’s just you and a friend, you can peel only a quarter to make saving the rest for later easier. (No judgment here if you plan to eat the whole thing all by yourself!)

A note on saving Ebenezer: The special paper that Ebenezer comes wrapped in allows the cheese to continue to happily age in a way that plastic wrap does not. Save the paper in case you have leftovers that you want to put in the fridge for later. If you don’t devour it, repeat the same assessment and warming process when you’re ready to dig back in. 

Once you’ve decided how much to peel, use a thin, sharp knife, to carefully trim away the top - slice parallel to the top of the cheese and then gently pull back the peel while gently scraping the paste away from the peel with another tool. The peel is edible and flavorful! You can nibble it or simply discard it. This should be easy - if it’s not, back in the oven. 

Now you’re ready to dip.

Dip it.

Serve it up! Surround your warm and gooey Ebenezer wheel with your favorite tasty treats. We recommend serving the Ebenezer with a small butter knife or wooden spoon so that crumbs aren’t left behind in the molten paste (remember, if you don’t finish the wheel, it’s simple to wrap in the original paper and save for later, so leaving lots of debris behind is not-so-nice for your future self). 

Some of our favorites:

  • Fresh baguette, sliced and toasted

  • Sliced Apples

  • Roasted Cauliflower - the browner and crisper the better!

  • Tasty crackers

  • Ripe Persimmons

  • Sliced Bartlett Pears

  • Bugles, too! 

Saving some for later.

When you’ve had your fill, the cheese will likely be back at room temperature and ready to nestle back into its original cheese paper to wait in the fridge for later. When it’s time to dive back in, follow the steps above just like before to get it just right.

Let your cold wheel of Ebenezer come to room temperature on the counter for about 2 hours before it's time to serve it.
Gently score the top with a sharp knife to delineate a test area.
slice parallel to the peel to see how easily the peel and paste separate. If it's resistant to being peeled away, you'll want to apply some heat. If the peel easily comes away from the paste, you're ready to continue peeling and scraping the paste aw
Heat your oven to 250F and place your wheel in on the dish you intend to serve it on - once warmed through, the bottom rind may be too delicate to move. Check ever 3-4 minutes on your progress by removing and attempting to peel again.
As you peel, use your knife to scrape the paste back into the wheel so you don't lose any of that delicious paste!
Your paste should be custard- or pudding-like; once you remove the peel, you may still want to apply more heat to make it spreadable to your liking. The peel is edible and tasty so feel free to nibble at it.
Surround your warm and gooey Ebenezer with all your delightful dippers - baguette, apples, pears, pretzels, cauliflower, bugles (no joke - they're super tasty!) and get ready to dig in.
Use a spreader like a wooden spoon or butter knife to dip so you don't leave any crumbs behind in the paste. You may have some left over, so you'll want it to be tidy. When you're done, re-wrap in the original cheese paper - it's different from typic
Get creative and tag us on instagram with your favorite dippers!
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