All Happiness Depends On A Leisurely Breakfast - Apple Brie Croustillants

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." ~John Gunther

This recipe was a total failure! Perhaps if in it's recitation I do not find the key to success, you, my readers, may find a light hearted comedy...

So, one fine morning I had invited some friends over for a brunch. I wake up early with a twinkle in my eye. I love preparing quiches, all sorts of quiches and tartes salés as the french call them. My friends rave over them. Earlier in the week a beautiful recipe article caught my eye, with gorgeous photos of mini-quiches in phyllo shells. What a fun variation, I thought.

So when Saturday morning came around I was in a delightful mood, flitting about my mini kitchen and sculpting my phyllo dough into triangles and layering them in muffin pans.

My hubby came to my aide dicing the apples, while I whipped the quiche batter together. Then I layered the diced apple, quiche batter, and brie - just as I had seen in the artistic photo layout. And, up! the tray of Apple-Brie-Croustillants went straight into the oven. Fifteen minutes later, the time recommended by the darling deceptive recipe, the quiches were still liquid. Note-to-self, thirty-five minutes is a more appropriate cooking time.

Placing the brie on top was a great idea, it melted into the quiche itself while the exposed edge was bubbly golden and crispy. They were gorgeous. The triangles of phyllo dough gave them the appearance of artistic mayhem!

Then, the time came, to take them out of the muffin cups. But these mini quiches would not be de-molded. The quiche batter soaked into the phyllo dough and baked into the muffin cups. Becoming one with the muffin tin. As it were, I had lined several of my muffin cups with parchment paper. Brillant for cleaning the muffin tin, and taking nice photos, but impossible if you actually expected to eat your Apple-Brie-Croustillants! Once again the quiche batter had soaked into the phyllo dough and promptly fused with the parchment paper.

One by one, my guests unwrapped their little morsels of mayhem ... Good thing we had all morning to sit and chat and laugh at the paradoxically inedible beauty placed before us. Of course all parts not fused with parchment paper were delectable!!! The Brie was a perfect paring with the granny smith apple and the crusty bits of phyllo dough decorating the top were tantalizing.

The big question remains ... how do you bake these babies so that the batter doesn't soak through the dough and mess everything up. This weekend I'm going to try it again. This time I'll layer twice as many layers of phyllo dough and I'll prebake the crusts before filling them. Wish me luck!

Apple Brie Croustillants

10 phyllo dough shells
1 granny smith apple
5 eggs
1 tsp (càc) Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp (càc) salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
Pinch of ground nutmeg
4 oz (100g) Brie

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Arrange phyllo shells in the muffin tins. *Lots of layers, prebake them.
Peel and dice the apple.
Whisk eggs, mustard, salt, pepper and nutmeg in a large measuring cup. Pour the egg mixture over the apple. Place a chunk of Brie in each shell.
Bake until the egg is set, the Brie is melted and the phyllo is golden around the edges, about 15 I mean 35-40 minutes.

***Second take. I layered three phyllo shells and prebaked them. They appeared to be solid shells ready to fill, but it didn't help. The batter still soaked through and stuck to the pans, or soaked through and fused with the parchment paper. ;( Maybe five or six layers would work? Or maybe I just need to use normal pie crusts like I always do for my quiches? Would puff pastry dough work?

Nutrition information per serving (serving size: one quiche): 39 calories; 2 grams fat (1 gram saturated, 1 gram monounsaturated); 39 milligrams cholesterol; 3 grams carbohydrate; 0 grams added sugars; 2 grams protein; 0 grams fiber; 65 milligrams sodium; 20 milligrams potassium.