Puff pastry cups with brie and cranberry, out of the oven in fourteen minutes and gone considerably faster.
They use one sheet of pastry, one round of brie and a jar of cranberry sauce, and they look like far more work than they are.
Why This Recipe Works
- Pricking the bottom of each shell keeps the pastry base flat, so the cheese sits in a cup rather than being pushed up and out by rising pastry.
- A cube rather than a slice of brie means the cheese melts from the middle outward and stays contained by the rind.
- Rosemary against brie and cranberry is what stops the bite reading as purely sweet — it is a small amount doing a lot.
- Egg wash on the exposed pastry only gives colour where you want it without gluing the filling to the pan.
One Bite, Built
Everything here is measured per cup rather than per batch. Get one right and the other twenty-three are the same move.
What goes into one bite
The pastry shell — 1 square, from a sheet cut into 24
Pressed into the cup and pricked on the bottom with a fork. The docking is what stops the base puffing up and pushing the filling out.
The brie — 1 cube, about 3/4 inch
Rind on, nestled into the shell. The rind holds the cheese together as it melts, which is why it stays on rather than being optional.
The cranberry — about 1 teaspoon
Spooned over the brie. A teaspoon looks mean and is correct: more than that boils over the edge and welds the bite into the pan.
Rosemary and pecans — a pinch eachoptional
Scattered over before baking. The pecans are optional; the rosemary is what keeps the bite from reading as purely sweet.
Egg wash — on the exposed pastry only
Brushed around the rim rather than over the filling. It is what makes the edges glossy and deeply golden in fourteen minutes.
Out of the pan after five minutes, then honey, flaky salt and extra rosemary while still warm.
Ingredient Notes
- Puff pastry
- One sheet, 8 to 9 ounces, thawed. Rolled slightly thinner than it comes so it yields 24 squares rather than 16.
- Brie, rind on and chilled
- Both details matter. The rind contains the melt and chilled cheese cubes cleanly. Eight ounces gives 24 cubes almost exactly.
- Whole-berry cranberry sauce
- Homemade or canned — either works equally. Whole-berry holds its shape on top of the cheese where a jellied sauce would run.
- Honey and flaky salt
- Both added after baking, both optional, and together they are what lift these from good to worth making again.
How to Make It
Heat the oven and prepare the pan
375°F (190°C), 24-cup mini muffin pan lightly coated with nonstick spray.
Roll and cut the pastry
On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry and roll to roughly 10×12 inches. Trim the edges if needed and cut into 24 squares.
Form the shells
Press each square into a muffin cup and prick the bottoms with a fork to minimise puffing.
Add the brie
Cut the brie into 24 cubes of about 3/4 inch and nestle one into each shell.
Add the cranberry and toppings
Spoon about a teaspoon of cranberry sauce over the brie in each cup, then sprinkle over the chopped rosemary and pecans if using.
Egg wash and bake
Brush the exposed pastry with the egg wash and bake 12 to 14 minutes, until puffed, deeply golden, and the brie is melted and bubbling.
Cool briefly and finish
Five minutes in the pan, loosen the edges with a knife, then transfer to a platter. Drizzle with honey and finish with flaky salt and extra rosemary. Serve warm.
Success Tips
- Do not overfill. A teaspoon of cranberry per cup is the limit before it boils over and sticks.
- Prick every base. It takes thirty seconds and it is the difference between a cup and a dome.
- Loosen the edges with a knife after five minutes, while the sugar in the cranberry is still soft. Left to cool completely they cement in.
- Serve warm. Brie is at its best melted and these lose their point once cold.
Serving Ideas
Straight onto a platter with drinks. They are a standing-up appetiser and want no cutlery, which is much of why they suit a party.
Storage and Reheating
Refrigerate
Best the day they are baked. Refrigerate leftovers up to 2 days in an airtight container; the pastry softens.
Freeze
Freeze baked and cooled up to 1 month. Reheat from frozen in a hot oven rather than thawing, which makes the pastry damp.
Reheat
Five to seven minutes at 350°F re-crisps the pastry and re-melts the brie. The microwave makes them soft and is not worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I assemble them ahead?
Assemble up to the egg wash, cover and refrigerate for a few hours, then wash and bake. Longer than that and the cranberry starts to soak into the pastry base.
What if I do not have a mini muffin pan?
A standard 12-cup pan works with larger pastry squares and two cubes of brie each, baked a few minutes longer. You get twelve larger bites rather than twenty-four small ones.
Can I use a different cheese?
Camembert behaves the same way. Goat cheese works and is sharper, but without a rind it spreads more, so use slightly less per cup.
