APRICOT & WHITE CHOCOLATE BARS

MAKES 8 PREP 30 MINS COOK 10 MINS

• 410g can apricot halves in juice

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• pinch salt

• 4 sheets filo pastry

• 40g butter, melted

• cooking oil spray

• 8 white chocolate Lindt balls, halved

• 2 tbsp flaked almonds, plus extra to serve

1 Drain apricot halves. Pat dry with paper towel. Slice thinly. Combine apricots, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.

2 Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a work surface. Cover remaining sheets with a damp tea towel to prevent drying out. Brush pastry lightly with melted butter. Top with another sheet of filo. Brush with a little more butter.

Cut pastry layers in half crossways. Place one half on top of the other, pressing down firmly. Cut pastry stack in half lengthways.

3 Brush another filo pastry sheet with a little more butter. Top with remaining sheet of filo. Brush with remaining butter. Cut filo stack into 8 strips each 6cm x 27cm. 4 Spray a 4-hole (2-tbsp) sausage roll maker with oil.

5 With the machine turned off, position a pastry stack lengthways to cover the four holes. Press pastry gently into holes. Spoon half the apricot mixture equally among the holes. Top each with 2 chocolate ball halves. Using your hands, loosely scrunch a pastry strip over each bar. Sprinkle over half the almonds.

6 Turn machine on. Close lid without locking. Cook 8 mins or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack. Turn machine off 5 mins to cool slightly.

7 Repeat steps 5 and 6 with rest of pastry stack, apricot mixture, chocolate ball halves, pastry strips and almonds. Use a sharp knife to cut batches into separate bars.