Making Lovely Desserts Onsite, a la minute

[magnolia]

"Example: layering your phyllo, sprinkle some sugar in between layers as you brush on the butter. If you add an accent like cinnamon,ginger, cookie crumbs, etc...as a flavor enhancer, it also will carmelize your baked phyllo too.

Cut your multi layered phyllo into squares, place them inside a standard muffin pan. Bake until golden, their shape will be a pretty as you formed them before you baked."

I have just started working with phyllo, so please indulge these fairly basic questions.

1) If I bake the phyllo baskets, as you note, in a muffin tin - should I butter the tin (I think it's non stick but I usually butter it when using it for other things) or will the baskets come out easily?

2) How far in advance could I bake the baskets before filling them (i.e. how long will they keep?) I want the phyllo to remain crispy so I want to pre-bake these, and fill them at the last moment before serving them, to avoid the baskets getting soggy

3) What's the best way to keep left over phyllo usable for the future? How long will it keep in the fridge?

Thanks !

[Wendy DeBord]

Answers

1. If I'm using sugar in my phyllo I do lightly spray my muffin tins or pans so if the sugar leaks it won't stick to the pan. Typically the butter between the layers of the phyllo leachs enough that it doesn't stick in your pans.

2. You can bake them earilier in the same day. They begin to loose flavor the longer they sit.

3. You want to wrap them as air free as possible because it's the contact with air that makes phyllo dry. I typically don't keep left over phyllo, unless I have an imediate use that day for it.