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Recipes

How to Make Cranberry, Brie and Caramelized Onion Tartlets

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at UC Berkeley chapter.

It’s November 25th. You’ve just come home for Thanksgiving break and the house is quiet, if only for a moment.

Tomorrow, relatives will storm the household, your aunt will plant a sloppy lipstick kiss on your cheek and your cousin will tease you incessantly about the fact that you’re single on yet another Thanksgiving. Inevitably, you will be faced with dozens of questions about your future, school, relationships and how much you have grown since the last time they saw you (even though it’s only been a year).

What better way to combat the interrogations and convince your family that you can be a functional adult than to impress them with a gorgeously colorful, festive and sophisticated appetizer.

These golden tartlets cradle a perfect combination of caramelized onions, brie cheese (ooh, fancy), cranberry sauce and thyme. They’re ideal for a holiday party at home, but can easily be made year round (try substituting the cranberry sauce with other yummy jams) and for any occasion.

And there are only seven ingredients, so they’re extremely simple — but nobody needs to know that.

Cranberry Brie Tartlets

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 10 minutesCook time: 30 minutesTotal time: 40 minutesServings:12 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

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    Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Chop onion into long strips (while trying not to cry) and combine with butter.

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    Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon brown sugar and stir until onions are coated.

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    Cook onions over medium-low heat until they develop a deep brown, caramel color (about 15 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool.

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    Remove the rind from 6 oz of brie cheese and cut into 12 cubes.

    #SpoonTip: Use all that leftover brie in a grilled cheese sandwich.

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    Unroll puff pastry and cut each sheet into 6 sections.

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    Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray. Place a section of puff pastry into each space in the tin, pressing down to form a cup.

    #SpoonTip: Stick the muffin tins with the puff pastry into the freezer for five minutes before filling and baking them. This will help them keep their shape in the oven.

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    Divide caramelized onions equally amongst the puff pastry cups.

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    Nestle each cube of brie on top of the onions.

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    Drop two to three dollops of cranberry sauce around each cube of brie.

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    Brush edges of pastry with remaining tablespoon of melted butter.

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    Sprinkle with thyme.

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    Bake tartlets for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the bottoms are crispy. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan.

Claire Tromblee

UC Berkeley '17

When she isn't reading, playing music or blindly following a cat into the middle of the street, Claire can be found in the kitchen, where she is arguably most stress free and creative. She enjoys twinkly Christmas lights, animals, going to bed at obscenely early hours, animals, and finding people with her same stupid sense of humor.