Brie & Cheddar Apple Beer Soup

I know, it's summer! You know what goes great with all this air conditioning? A nice warm bowl of soup! I saw this recipe a while ago on Half Baked Harvest and figured last night would be a great time to try it as it has been a while since I have indulged myself with Brie. The soup is creamy,spiced, and satisfyingly heavy. The pecan crumble is so delicious I want to just eat it all with a spoon. I bought a huge 3 L jug of apple cider without realizing I needed less than a cup, but I regret nothing. You could probably really play with this recipe by varying the type of beer and cheese you add. I used a big block of grocery store old cheddar and a nice brie which worked nicely. For the beer, I picked a craft nut brown ale by Black Oak Brewing Co. based in Toronto, ON.

To make this tasty soup you will need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2/3 cup apple cider ( + more for drinking!)
• 2 apples, chopped (Royal Gala worked well)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 pint of beer (473 ml can)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup milk
• 400 g old cheddar cheese, shredded
• 230 g brie, cubed

1. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium hear. Add onion, pinch brown sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until softened (8 min).
2. Add apple cider and cook until onions are caramelized (15 min).
3. Add apples and thyme. Cook until softened (10 min).
4. Add beer, broth, and cayenne pepper. Bring to simmer and cook for 10 min.
5. Whisk flour into milk.
6. Puree the soup until smooth. Return to heat and bring to a low boil.
7. Whisk in the milk & flour mixture and boil for 5 minutes.
8. Stir in the cheeses until melted. Puree again for a nice smooth texture.
9. Simmer soup for 5 min, then enjoy!

While the onions were cooking in the cider I made the pecan crumble topping. To make it you will need:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tbsp softened unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Grease a glass pie plate. Add oats, pecans, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
3. Cut butter into 1 inch cubes.
4. Incorporate butter into the mixture using your hands until everything is moist and evenly distributed.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, then crumble over soup.

This soup is really heavy and I was surprised by how spicy the bit of cayenne pepper makes it. I know it would probably be best suited for a gorgeous autumn day using fresh picked apples... but it was good last night! I love the crumble recipe and will probably try to find other things to put it on in the future.