This almond pastries recipe uses home-made Danish pastry; alternatively, you can buy puff pastry.
Ingredients
- 100g unsalted butter, softened
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 medium free-range egg yolks,
- plus 1 egg, beaten
- 100g almonds, toasted and ground
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 2 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 quantity home-made puff pastry (see recipe)
- 50g flaked almonds, for decorating
- 50g icing sugar
- 2 tsp milk
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
- 2. With an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale. Whisk in the egg yolks. Fold in the ground almonds, almond extract and flour. Stir until smooth, and chill.
- 3. To make plaits, roll out the pastry on a floured surface to approximately 40cm square. Cut into 2, so you have 2 rectangles (measuring 40cm x 20cm), then spread the almond filling down the centre in a long sausage shape. Fold the top and bottom over to seal in the filling, then make diagonal cuts about 1cm apart down the side of each rectangle at a slight angle (see our How to make Danish pastries feature for details). Brush the pastry strips with beaten egg then, alternating sides, fold them in a criss-cross pattern over the filling.
- 4. To make individual pastries, roll out the pastry to a 5mm thickness and cut into 8 x 10cm squares. Put a generous tbsp of the filling in the middle, then fold the pastry corners into the centre to enclose the filling.
- 5. Place the pastries on a lined baking sheet. Chill, covered in cling film, for 20 minutes. Brush each pastry with the beaten egg and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
- 6. Meanwhile, whisk the icing sugar and milk together in a bowl until it forms a thick but pourable icing and set aside.
- 7. Cool the pastries for 5-10 minutes, drizzle with the icing, scatter with flaked almonds (cut the plaits into lengths) and serve.
Nutritional info
Per serving (based on 8): 568kcals, 36.6g fat (16.3g saturated), 11.9g protein, 51.3g carbs, 22.5g sugar, 0.3g salt
Chef's tip
To freeze, make up to the end of step 3/4, then open-freeze until solid. Place in a container and freeze for up to 3 months. Continue with the recipe and bake from frozen adding an extra few minutes to the cooking time.