Making Caramelised Mushroom Tartlets – Here’s What Happened
31st December 2025 - New Experience Number 43.
I tried making caramelised mushroom tartlets, hoping to offer up a decadent home-made savoury nibble, which, shhhh… don’t tell anyone, was actually incredibly easy to make.
But when something is so easy, there’s often a catch. So how would my first attempt at making these mushroomy morsels turn out?
Here’s how I got on making something I’d never tried before as part of my challenge to try 52 new things in a year.
Seasonal Snacking
I am a huge fan of a picky tea at any time of the year, but the festive season seems to lend itself perfectly to delicious bite-sized snacks that compliment the heavy feasting.
For the past few years, I’ve tried making a whole host of different tasty treats, (with, shall we say varied results, take a look at my bread wreath), and spotting a recipe for a savoury tartlet, I decided to give them a go.
The Recipe For Making Caramelised Mushroom Tartlets
I found the recipe from BBC Good Food, my favourite recipe website. If you’ve read about any of my other cooking antics you’ll be no stranger to the fact it is my go-to place for recipes.
There were only a few ingredients required, the method was straightforward with just 3 steps, and the picture of the freshly baked mushroom tartlets already had me salivating.
Avoiding Pastry Perils
When I think tartlet, I usually think pastry.
But what made these particular tartlets so much quicker and easier, was that they didn’t use pastry at all!
Instead, it was a simple everyday staple that encased the tasty filling.
The Ingredients For Making Caramelised Mushroom Tartlets
The list of ingredients was nice and easy – nothing out of the ordinary or that required a visit to a specialist shop, or hunting through the supermarket aisles for a particular product.
- Onion
- Caster sugar
- Olive oil
- Mushrooms
- Garlic
- Thyme
- White sliced bread
- Grated cheese
The Method
The method for making these mouthwatering mushroom morsels involved 3 simple steps.
- Frying the onion, sugar, mushrooms, garlic and thyme in a little oil.
- Cutting circles of white bread and using them to line a muffin tin
- Putting the cooked mushroom mix into the bread cases, sprinkling with cheese and baking for 15 minutes
The scent of mushrooms frying with garlic upped the hunger levels in our house ten fold. It’s a good job they didn’t take long to make.
Overall the method was super straightforward, and perfect for making a snack to impress when time is tight.
Presentation
One of the good things about these tartlets is that they didn’t have to look perfect to look good.
Taking them out of the oven, they looked surprisingly impressive, and I’d be happy to serve them up as nibble party food.
The bubbling golden cheese and flecks of thyme made them look far more sophisticated than something baked in a muffin tray lined with sliced bread should.
Tasting The Tartlets
At first bite, the herb-laden mushrooms and salty tang of cheese tasted like a winning combination
This was all delicious, but there was one thing that was a little jarring.
Despite following the instructions and putting in the required amount, I found the sugar made the tarts a little too sweet for my liking. It didn’t quite balance.
I know they were ‘caramelised’ mushroom tarts, but the sweetness didn’t quite quite work for me.
Soggy Bottoms
I loved using bread for the cases, it made it such a quick and easy recipe, however, the tartlets lacked a certain crisp-ness.
It was like eating a warm, sweet mushroom sandwich.
If you’ve ever put a canapé in the fridge, forgotten about it for a bit too long, then reluctantly decided it was probably still edible despite the disappointing sogginess… it was a bit like that, but warm.
Perhaps my bread was too fresh and I should have used it when it was nearer to the end of it’s shelf life?
Will I Be Making Caramelised Mushroom Tartlets Again?
These mushroom tartlets were so ridiculously simple that I am definitely going to make them again, but I’m going to try a few tweaks.
- Not using any sugar at all. Personally the caramelised bit didn’t work for me.
- I’m going to use bread that’s a little less fresh, a bit like bread and butter pudding.
- I might try baking the bread a little bit without the filling so that it might crisp up.
- I’m going to try adding a dash of Worcestershire sauce to give the flavour a bit more depth.
The Verdict
Really easy to assemble and a quick blast in the oven makes these a brilliant snack to bake.
Although I wasn’t one hundred percent won over by them this time, I’m looking forward to experimenting and trying them again.
Trying Something New Is A Brilliant Way To Build On Existing Skills
Trying new things doesn’t always have to involve big and bold experiences.
Trying something you’ve never done before that uses existing skills is still worthwhile, as it puts that talent into practice in a slightly different way.
Rather than simply thinking my tartlets didn’t turn out very well, I’ve actually come away with ideas of what I can do differently, and I’m keen to put them in to practice!
Want To Try It Yourself?
- To try the same easy recipe that I used, click through to the BBC Good Food Caramelised Mushroom Tartlets.
- Take a look online for other mushroom tartlets that you might like to try.
- Pinterest is a great source of recipe ideas too so why not take a look.
Cost Of Experience
- If I had to buy all of the ingredients from scratch, it would cost around £9.20 to make 12 tartlets, and you’d have plenty left of some ingredients for future bakes.
- It will depend on where you shop as to how much the ingredients will cost.
Recommendations
- Get creative. This is a recipe that is really easy to make small adaptations to, so you could try swapping out some ingredients for others.
- Give them a try if you’re short on time. If you’re entertaining and think that you don’t have much time to whip up any nibbles, then why not give these quick and easy tartlets a go.
- Take pictures. I’d love to know how you get on if you give it a go.