MINCEMEAT & CHRISTMAS PUDDING TWISTS

These buttery twists have all the flavours of Christmas and make a fabulous ‘ tear and share’ dessert.

Serves 24 2 x 375g packets all-butter puff pastry Flour, for dusting 2tbsp good-quality mincemeat 2tbsp good-quality Christmas pudding, crumbled 70g (2½oz) chocolate chips 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Remove the puff pastry from the fridge 15-30 minutes before using. Dust a large work surface lightly with flour. Roll both the puff pastry blocks out with a rolling pin into big squares about 3mm (¹/ 8in) thick and the same size as one another. Transfer one of the pastry squares to a large lined baking tray. Spread the mincemeat and crumbled pudding over that square, leaving a 2cm-3cm (¾in-1¼in) border around the edges (you’ll be trimming the edges later to make this a circle). Scatter the chocolate chips over the top. Brush egg wash all around the edges of the pastry. Place the second sheet over the top and, using a knife or pizza cutter, trim the edges to form a circle. Discard the trimmings. Using a knife, cut a long incision through the two layers of pastry from the outside edge of the circle towards the centre, but stopping an inch or so from the centre. Repeat around the circle, leaving 3cm (1¼in) between each of the incisions, until you are left with what looks like a big pastry sun. Brush all over with egg wash then pick each section up one by one and twist it clockwise a couple of times, then press the ends down onto the baking paper. Brush the pastry again with the egg wash, and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until crisp and golden.

The twists are best eaten straight from the oven, but if you want to make them a little earlier on the day of your party, warm them up at 150°C/fan 130°C/gas 2 for 10 minutes or so.