This Bacon, Brie & Cranberry Short Crust Tart is a great sweet & savoury tart that is perfect for warmer evenings when lighter meals are on the cards!
Tonight I was going to make fish pie. I love fish pie. It is my all time favourite. I use my mums recipe which is just gorgeous, light cod chunks drowning in a cheese sauce with sliced hard boiled eggs and topped with cheesy mash. Amazing! However it got to about 3pm this afternoon and I couldn’t stop thinking about bacon, brie and cranberry sour dough paninis from Reeves in Salisbury (If you’re in town, have one as they’re to die for).
So I thought to myself, I can’t have a panini for dinner, its just not right. Having seen a recipe some weeks ago for a caramelised red onion and goats cheese tart I thought I’d have a go at a Bacon, Brie & Cranberry Short Crust Tart. As you can see from my photo it was very very successful.
It is the first time I’ve made a tart as I don’t work with pastry too often and I’m so pleased with the results. Once I got my head around the basics of savoury tarts I worked without a recipe. I wanted to have a crack at creating a tart that would speak to me and boy did it. Crisp golden shortcrust pastry, a layer of beautifully sweet whole cranberry jelly, crunchy bacon and red onions under a layer of cheesy Cornish brie.
Those classic flavours worked so well in a tart. They had lots of different textures and were a real delight to cut into and let the molten brie just ooze out. The sweetness of the cranberry was enough to cut through the cheese and add that extra element.
Bacon, Brie & Cranberry Short Crust Tart Recipe
Bacon, Brie & Cranberry Short Crust Tart
Ingredients
- 200 g short crust pastry dough
- 1 red onion finely chopped
- 275 g Brie standard shop wedge should be enough! cut into even strips about 5mm thick
- 5 rashers of bacon cut into strips. I used un smoked but obviously it comes down to preference
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 ml double cream
- 1 egg
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 1 pinch of salt
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 40 g cranberry Jelly
- handful of chives chopped
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 or 200Cห
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Roll out the pastry dough to about 4mm thick and enough to cover 4 5" flan cases
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place the pastry inside the cases and gently press against the edges. Trim any excess from the cases. With a fork, prick the base of the pastry. Cover with baking/grease proof paper and weigh down with baking beads or, if you don't have baking beans, white rice that you don't intend to use. Stick the cases into the oven for 18 - 20 minutes until golden on the edges. Take them out and remove the paper and baking beans. Return to the oven for 3 minutes to crisp up.
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Remove and set aside. Turn your oven down to gas mark 4 or 180Cห
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Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the finely chopped onion. When this has cooked through and begun to turn translucent, add the bacon and cook until the bacon has begun to turn golden and crispy. This should take about 5-8 minutes. Remove from the heat.
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Evenly distribute the cranberry jelly among the 4 pastry cases and spread with the underside of a teaspoon. Try and cover as much of the bottom as possible. Spoon the onion and bacon mix onto the cranberry jelly. Top evenly with the strips of brie and sprinkle chopped chives over the top.
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In a measuring jug, mix the cream, egg, garlic, salt and pepper and mix well. Carefully pour the mixture evenly between the 4 cases. Whack it in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until set and the top has turned a lovely light, golden colour.
Recipe Notes
I learnt a long time ago that when you're blind baking your tart cases, if you crumple the baking/grease proof paper into a tight ball in your hands and then unwrap it, it is easier to get into all the different corners of your tart case!
So now, feeling thoroughly chuffed with myself I leave you to have a go. I served this with boiled new potatoes, a crisp baby leaf salad, home made garlic croutons and a balsamic and olive oil dressing. I will be making this one again, VERY SOON.
Enjoy!
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Only just discovered this website ……… brilliant site, Brilliant recipe – Thank You – Merry Christmas
Hi Ness! Thanks for your lovely comment ๐ Merry Christmas to you too!
Yum! I’m always looking for things to do with Brie besides just eating it with crackers. We are planning a wine and cheese party, so I think I may need to add this to the menu!
Thanks for your comment! hope it all goes well with your wine and cheese party! Useful dish for leftover cheese (if such a thing exists?!) – goats cheese and onion chutney would be divine too!
I wouldn’t have guessed this was the first time you made a tart, you nailed it! By the way, love your blog name! Is it inspired by Silicon Valley? ๐ That’s what I thought of immediately when I read it.
I wish I could say it was a ref to Silicon Valley but Iโve never been. To be honest, it was the first in a long list where the url was available and it has stuck! Thanks for your comment!
This looks really good! I love brie so I’m going to try and make these
You can’t go wrong with brie! Go for it and thanks for your comment!
Oh my goodness do these sound amazing! It’s like all of my favorite things in one tart! Yum!
Bacon good. Brie good. Cranberry good! IT ALL WORKS! thanks for your comment =)
What a gorgeous dish! I wish I had that skill. Looks delicious too.
Thanks for your comment!
I’ve never had a tart like this but it looks delicious!
Believe me, it was! Thanks for your comment!
Iโm salivating just reading this (and I just ate breakfast!!) wow Iโm going to have to try this. Maybe for entertaining.
Hey Ray! Definitely one for entertaining and the recipe is easy enough to work out how much you need for more!
This flavor combo sounds fantastic! and nice work on your pastry… looks perfect!
Thanks! Pastry has never been my strongest skill but I was really pleased with these! Thanks for your comment!
This sounds perfect for a wintry evening – then again so does your mum’s fish pie, can’t wait to see that recipe too! Thanks for sharing ๐
Thanks for your comment! Not sure mum’d forgive me for sharing her recipe though!
I need to get my hands on some of those tart molds! Great job with this recipe, wouldn’t have known it was your first time!
Brilliant site name! I’ve never actually made anything yet with brie in it yet. But after checking out your recipe and your pictures, you nailed it! I’m going to have to try this.
This sounds delicious! Thanks for the tip about crumpling the baking paper. Pastry is something I’ve been avoiding for a little while. I am out of practice, and am nervous to do it. I need to go bake one and get over it, haha.
The tart looks cute and crisp…I haven’t baked a tart for myself..but now I have a recipe.. thank you
This tart looks amazing! I would love to make this for a brunch with girlfriends one day!
Brie and cranberry is such a wonderful combination. on top of it… BACON! yum. Is there a recipe for the crust?
This looks so absolutely delicious! I bet my husband would love this, too! ๐
You have successfully put three of my favorite foods in one dish! This looks fantastic! I can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks so much Jennifer ๐ let me know how you get on!