I discovered this recipe on Pinterest, however I changed it up a bit to make it more desserty. The original recipe calls for brie as the cheese layer, however I thought it would be tastier with a slightly sweetened cream cheese. I love being right. These are delicious!!! If you are going to do the sugared (sparkling) cranberries, you'll want to start the night before. Also, the cranberry-orange sauce makes a lot, so you can adjust the recipe as desired, I plan on using the leftovers in some kind of drink concoction for my cookie party next week.
Ingredients:
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, room temp
1/3 c sugar (I said slightly sweetened, right?)
Combine sugar and cream cheese, set aside.
Mini Phyllo Shells (I used the sheets and used about 5 layers)
Sparkling Cranberries; recipe below
Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce; recipe below
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Place about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture in each of the phyllo shells. (I used a mini muffin pan. One whole sheet will make about 24 shells to fit the mini muffin pan.) Bake for 5 minutes or just until the cheese melts and fills the bottom of shell. Allow to cool slightly. (I ended up baking for about 7 minutes)
Place a small spoonful of the cranberry-orange sauce on top of the cream cheese. Arrange sparkling cranberries on top, garnish with a mint leaf if you're fancy. (I'm not.)
Serve immediately.
Sparkling Cranberries
Ingredients:
2 cups cranberries, picked over
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
Coarse sugar for coating
Directions:
Place the cranberries in a medium bowl and set aside.
Make a simple syrup by bringing the water and 2 cups sugar just to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Let the syrup cool for a few minutes and then pour it over the cranberries. If the syrup is too hot the cranberries will burst. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, drain the cranberries and toss them with large grain coarse sugar until they are well coated. I only use a scoop of sugar at a time, and small batches of cranberries, so the sugar doesn’t get too damp and start clumping. Place the coated cranberries on a baking sheet to dry for a few hours.
Do a second toss with the regular granulated sugar, this typically takes care of any sticky spots on the cranberries. Let dry another hour. (I skipped this part, they were plenty sugary!)
Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients:
1 bag fresh cranberries
1 large orange, unpeeled
1 cup of sugar
Cut up the orange and put it in your blender (yes, leave the peel on!), add 1 cup of sugar and the bag of cranberries. Blend until smooth.
5 comments:
I'm glad they turned out well for you! I might have to try this one.
me too! i wish i was invited to your party! i'm sure it's one all your friends look forward to each year. yummy stuff!!
So how did you make the shells? Just cut the sheet(s) into 24 pieces and put them in the muffin tin?
Yes, I just layered the 5 sheets (next time I might do 7 or 8 layers, they're pretty thin...), I brushed melted butter in between each layer but I don't know if that was necessary, and then I just cut little squares to equal 24. They were really, really good.
Rhonda, you're always invited, you know where I live! Next Tues @7!
I would definitely butter in-between the sheets. At least that's what I do when I make baklava. I'll have to give these a try!
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