Apricot and chocolate pastries

I had a little puff pastry in the freezer probably leftover from a pie I made a couple of months ago, and I decided to make something with it at last. I was too small to make a pie so I made these little pastries. They are very easy to make and absolutely gorgeous, especially when fresh out from the oven!

Makes ~16 pastries

~ 200g puff pastry
~ 100g semi-dried apricots, chopped
~ 50g dark chocolate, chopped
Apricot jam

1. Roll out the pastry onto a floured surface and cut 5 cm diameter circles.

2. Spread each circle with a little jam, add a few apricots bits, as well as chocolate drops.



3. Close and seal the circle with a little water and a fork. Brush with the beaten egg.


4. Place in a 180C pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Apricot and chocolate twirl

Makes 12-15 twirls

Ingredients

DOUGH
75g butter
450g self-raising flour
50g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
150ml milk

FILLING
25g butter, melted
150g dried apricots, chopped
100g dark chocolate chips
2 TBSP milk to glaze

1. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, eggs and milk to form a soft, non sticky dough.

2. Roll out to form a 35cm square.

3. Brush the melted butter over the square. Spread the apricots and chocolate over the dough within 2.5cm of the top and bottom.

4. Roll up the dough tightly like a Swiss roll and cut into 2.5cm slices. Place the slices onto a baking tray. Brush with a little milk to glaze.

5. Bake in a 180 degrees preheated oven for 30 minutes until cooked and golden.

6. Best serve warm!

Orange and apricot jelly

I am no big fan of jelly as such, but this is refreshing and fruity, and does not have the texture of jelly. The secret ingredient to this? Agar-agar. I discovered this ingredient a year ago and it is great to facilitate the setting of jellies or cheesecake.

The following recipe makes 4 jelly moulds:

225g dried apricots
300ml orange juice
3 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP honey
1 g agar-agar
3 TBSP water

For the cream:
125g mascarpone
125g fromage frais
cinnamon to sprinkle

orange slices to decorate

1. Place the apricot and orange juice in a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Process in a food processor with the lemon juice and honey.
3. Boil the water, add the agar-agar and stir well for 20 seconds
4. Add the agar-agar to the apricot mixture and process again.
5. Place in individual moulds and leave to cool down completely.

6. To make the cream, stir the mascarpone and fromage frais together.

7. When serving, unmould the jellies onto serving plates with a spoonful of cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add a slice of orange to decorate.