To give mince pies a new twist, shape these like Danish pastries using ready-made puff pastry and add a custardy almond base
150 g carton of Devon custard
50 g ground almonds
1/4 tsp almond extract
375 g butter puff pastry
160 g mincemeat
1 egg yolk
25 g flaked almonds
icing sugar; for dusting
Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. In a small bowl, mix together the custard, ground almonds and almond extract. Set aside.
For the star pastries: on a lightly floured surface, roll out and trim half the pastry to a rectangle about 24x19cm. With the shorter side towards you, cut in half lengthways, then in thirds widthways, to give you 6 pieces of pastry.
For each star mince pie, make a 4.5cm cut from each corner diagonally towards the centre. Place 1/2 teaspoonful of the almond custard in the centre and put 1/2 teaspoon of the mincemeat on top. Mix 1 tsp cold water with the egg yolk, then brush this mixture over the pastry around the filling.
Bring each cut corner into the middle to create a star shape, pressing each corner down where it overlaps and gently pressing them all down in the centre to secure (the handle end of the pastry brush is good for this). Place on the baking sheet. Brush the unglazed pastry with more egg yolk and scatter a few almonds in the centre of each one. Bake for 10-12 minutes until puffy and golden. Cool slightly on a wire rack.
For the wrap-over pastries: while the stars are baking, roll out, trim and cut the other pastry half into six as before. For each wrap-over mince pie, put a teaspoonful of the custard down the middle and top with a small teaspoonful of mincemeat. Brush the pastry with egg as before. Bring two opposite pastry corners into the centre to overlap well, brush the tips with egg yolk and press and pinch down to secure. Brush each mince pie with the rest of the egg yolk, scatter with the remaining almonds, then bake as for the stars. Cool slightly on a wire rack.
Serve the mince pies warm, dusted with icing sugar.
makes 25 Servings