This recipe can easily be halved. If you are making purses and cups you'll cut out all your phyllo rectangles and make your cups and bake them. While the cups are baking you can start filing the purses. After the cups come out of the oven, turn the temperature up, and then bake the purses when the oven is up to temperature.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time8 minutesmins
Total Time28 minutesmins
Servings: 36
Author: Garnish and Glaze
Ingredients
1poundred cherries, pitted and chopped
6tablespoonssugar, divided
8ouncesgoat cheese
8ouncescream cheese
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1/3cupsliced almonds
24phyllo dough sheets, thawed
1stick butter, melted
Basil, optional
Instructions
If making cups, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. If making purses, preheat oven to 375 degrees. (If you are making some of each, bake the cups first, turn up the heat, and then bake the purses.)
Mix chopped cherries with 3 tablespoons sugar and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat cheeses, 3 tablespoons sugar, vanilla using an electric mixer until smooth.
Lay one phyllo sheet on a clean counter and brush with melted butter. Layer on 3 more sheets, brushing butter onto each one. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut out 6 rectangles. Repeat this process 5 more times to get 36 rectangles.
For the Cups: gently press rectangles into the cups of a mini muffin pan and bake for 5-6 minutes until golden. Cool completely and then fill each cup with 2 teaspoons cheese mixture and top with 2 teaspoons cherries. Garnish with almonds and basil (optional).
For the Purses: drop 2 teaspoons of the cheese mixture and cherries in the middle of each rectangle and sprinkle with almonds and basil (optional). Pull the sides of the rectangle together and gently pinch them together, letting the corners and edges flare out. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
Serve at room temperature. (They don't keep well because when you put them in the fridge the phyllo gets soft so you need to eat them within a few hours of making them. You can make the cups ahead of time by baking the phyllo, leaving them on the counter, and store the cheese mixture and cherries in the fridge until ready to assemble.)