What makes it special?
For this dish it’s really the combination of flavors of the sweet and salty. The brie adds a nice creaminess, but I don’t think you need to use the most expensive one you can find for this recipe. The pear should be firm, not mushy, but ripe. And the spiced honey you can either make using the recipe below or use a good quality store bought one (see suggestion and blog post).
The puff pastry itself is where it’s at. I recently discovered one that I love. It’s a little bit more expensive so I don’t always use it but if it’s for a special occasion I do recommend splurging on this one ingredient because it’s so buttery and flakey and that’s what you want to taste in every bite. You can find it at Whole Foods and probably a few other higher end stores.
Ingredients:
- ½ pkg puff pastry, defrosted overnight in the fridge or according to box
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- ½ cup firm but ripe Bosc pear, peeled and diced just before lesson
- 3 oz brie cheese, rind cut away if preferred
- 2 slices prosciutto diced
- 2 Tablespoons chopped basil
- Generous drizzle of spiced honey (see below)
Spiced Honey:
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Sea salt or Maldon flakey sea salt
*Note: you can substitute store bought spiced honey such as Mike’s Hot Honey or another favorite brand. Read my blog post about it here:
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray mini cupcake pan with cooking spray.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll out dough to ¼ inch thick square. Using a pizza cutter or paring knife cut the dough into 16 even squares. Press squares into the muffin tin and spread out the edges as best you can so that the dough doesn’t fold over.
- Prepare egg wash by whisking 1 egg with 1 tsp water. Poke the bottom and edges of the dough with a fork (to release the steam when baking) and brush lightly with egg wash. There will be extra egg wash and that can be discarded.
- Bake in the lower third of the oven for 18-22 minutes until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, gently using your fingers to ‘open up’ the cups a little more after baking which creates more space for filling.
- Make spiced honey by placing honey in a bowl and microwaving for 10 seconds to loosen it. Add desired amount of cinnamon, cayenne and sea salt. Set aside.
- Cut the rind off the brie if preferred, dice the prosciutto and peel and dice the pear. Place the cooked puff pastry cups on an oven safe serving dish and fill them with prosciutto, pear, and brie (about 2 pieces of each and as much as you can stuff in there layering prosciutto, pear, and brie so you get a little bit of each in every bite). Bake for another 4-5 minutes or until the brie is just melted.
- Garnish with fresh chopped basil and serve warm.
Tips:
- Puff pastry rises and cooks most evenly in a very hot preheated oven.
- Lower third of the oven creates a more even and crisp bottom layer
- Don’t open the oven door to check on the pastry; instead use the oven light
Kitchen Tools
Kitchenware:
- Mini muffin tin
- Rolling pin
- Pizza wheel
- Small dish
- Whisk
- Pastry Brush
- Fork
- Offset spatula or fork
- Peeler
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
