Description
These cranberry brie tarts come together with puff pastry dough, brie cheese, and homemade cranberry sauce. You can use store-bought puff pastry, but if you can spare a few hours for the dough to chill in the refrigerator, I urge you to try this surprisingly simple homemade puff pastry instead.
Ingredients
- 1 lb homemade rough puff pastry, or store-bought frozen & thawed puff pastry (2 sheets)
- egg wash: 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) water or milk
Filling
- 1 cup (100g) fresh cranberries, rinsed*
- 6 Tablespoons (90ml) water
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh orange juice*
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon orange zest*
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 6 ounces (170g) brie cheese
- coarse sugar, for sprinkling
- optional: 1–2 pecan halves for each
- optional for garnish: flaky sea salt & fresh thyme
Instructions
- Dough: Prepare homemade rough puff pastry dough through 2nd refrigeration. If using store-bought frozen puff pastry, make sure it’s thawed. Keep either dough in the refrigerator until step 4 below.
- Make the Cranberry Sauce: After rinsing the cranberries, set 1/4 cup (25g) cranberries aside. You will stir these in at the end for extra texture. Combine the remaining cranberries, water, orange juice, and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as the mixture comes to a simmer. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low. While stirring occasionally, continue to cook until liquid has reduced and cranberries have burst and thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup reserved cranberries, orange zest, and vanilla extract. Allow to cool slightly while you continue.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Grease a 12-cup muffin pan (I use nonstick spray).
- On a lightly floured work surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll pastry dough into a 12×16-inch rectangle; it doesn’t have to be perfect. (Tip if using 2 sheets of store-bought: place the edge of one sheet over the other and use a rolling pin to adhere them together. Roll the whole thing out into a 12×16-inch rectangle.) With a sharp knife or a pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 4-inch squares. (Again, doesn’t have to be perfect.)
- Egg Wash & Assemble: Brush egg wash all over puff pastry squares, including the edges. Transfer the squares to the prepared muffin pan, pressing them down to fill each cup as a “crust.” Slice the brie into 12 pieces, about 1/2 ounce (14g) each. Place the slices of brie in the centers of the dough crusts. Top each with a spoonful (about 2 heaping teaspoons) of slightly warm or cold cranberry sauce. Gently fold the corners of the dough in toward the center of each tart. Sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops of tarts.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until tarts are golden brown. If adding pecans, at the 10-minute mark, gently place them in the center of each tart and continue baking for the remaining 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and garnish each tart with flaky sea salt and fresh thyme leaves. Cool for a couple minutes, and then use a spoon to help remove the tarts from the pan. Serve warm.
- Cover and store leftover tarts in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 300°F (149°C) oven for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: If using homemade dough, see the detailed dough recipe instructions for make-ahead and freezing details. You can essentially prep the dough 48 hours in advance or freeze up to 1 month. You can prepare the cranberry sauce up to 3 days ahead of time. Cool completely, cover tightly, and then refrigerate until ready to use. You can freeze the baked and cooled tarts for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat (covered with aluminum foil) in a 300°F (149°C) oven for 15 minutes before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Rolling Pin | USA Pan Muffin Pan or Wilton Muffin Pan | Pizza Cutter | Pastry Brush | Zester | Citrus Juicer
- Cranberries: You can use fresh or frozen cranberries. No need to fully thaw. Rinse the frozen cranberries with water in a colander before using. No need to pat dry.
- Orange Juice & Zest: You need fresh orange juice and orange zest. I recommend zesting the orange first, setting the zest aside, then cutting the orange for the juice. (Harder to zest a cut orange!)
- Brie: You can use any brie cheese, double or triple cream. No need to remove the rind.
- Full-Size Tart: You can turn this recipe into a full-size tart baked on a baking sheet, and the baking instructions will be different. I recommend following the assembly and baking instructions from this recipe for butternut squash tart. Spread cranberry sauce over egg-washed dough and dot pieces of brie on top before baking. Feel free to sprinkle with coarse sugar, then add pecans halfway through bake time, and finish with flaky sea salt and fresh thyme before serving.