How to make apple bunnies, to eat with a Camembert in Calvados

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Update: Also check out Apple bunnies and more decorative cutting techniques.

On Easter, we had a selection of cheeses, one of which was this very interesting Camembert soaked and aged for a while in Calvados. Since Calvados is an apple cider-based brandy, apples seemed to fit well. And, since it was Easter, the apple wedges were transformed into apple bunnies.

In Japan, we sort of grow up knowing how to make apple bunnies (usagi ringo), but they caused quite a sensation on Sunday. It's very easy to make them: with a sharp pointed knife, score a V shape into the skin of the apple wedge. Then with the point of your knife, carefully pick up the point of the V, wiggle your knife under the skin, and peel off, taking care not to break the peel you want to keep on. This illustration shows where to score, and which part to peel off:

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Slip your knife under the "ears" part of the apple skin, separating them from the flesh, so that they point up and out. At this point, if you're making several, put them in some acidulated water (water with a little bit of lemon juice) or salted water (water with a bit of salt) to prevent them from browning.

The Camembert itself had no label on it - we just bought a wedge at a small local grocery store. It was quite intensely flavored though, much more so than an ordinary Camembert which can be a bit bland. It was very nice indeed with wine and bread.

When I arranged a wedge of the cheese with the apples, I had to take it outside onto a bank covered with spring wildflowers and fresh green leaves to take a picture. The crazy things one does when maintaining a blog.

Filed under:  basics cheese how-to garnish knife skills

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Comments

I have had some Camembert before, but I did not know what to do with the flour-y crust. Is that edible? Hehe.

Yes, any white cheese rind is usually edible, such as on a Camembert or Brie, while the yellow/brownish kinds aren't..though the brown one on this Camembert in Calvados was.

i love the apple bunnies! my first impression was that they also look like beautiful tulips, also around at this time of year. very spring-y.

I tried these and they are adorable! If you turn them around and put eyes on them they look like little mice or pigs too. ^_^

I prefer Hokkaido camembert (although it's probably illegal to import it into Europe with the French food nazis on patrol). French camembert tastes like eating a block of soft butter--eyuu! Hokkaido camembert is ... "cheesier" (in a the good sense). And it's really cheap, the only cheap real cheese in Japan. The skin is the best. I think they should figure out a way to maximize the skin by making camembert cheeses thinner or in a strip. In fact, those mini-camemberts (3 cm diameter) are great: lots of skin. Hokkaido camembert, tomatoes, and a baguette (ubiquitous at Japanese bakeries like Antendo) makes a great sandwich.

That camembert looks sooo good! Your creative photography is lovely. I will have to make the apple bunnies for my little one. Just getting started on my foodblog so I thought I'd take a peek at what's around.

Great idea

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