Sour cherry and marzipan chrysanthem pastry

Serve this stunning cherry and marzipan dessert warm with clotted cream or crème fraîche. Any leftovers can be reheated as a breakfast pastry

Delicious magazine November 2017

Serves 8

Freezable and Vegetarian

100 g dried sour cherries

4 tbsp sloe gin or port (or cherry juice)

2 tbsp cherry jam

200 g marzipan, log shaped is best

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp demerara sugar

For the dough

250 ml milk

2 tbsp plain yogurt

1 tsp easy bake yeast

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 large egg 

500 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

75 g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin

First, make the dough. Put all the ingredients and a pinch of salt into a stand mixer and mix on low. When it forms a dough, knead for a couple of mins, then cover with a damp cloth. Leave it overnight or at least 8 hrs in a cool place. If you want to speed up the process, knead for about 10 mins until you have a smooth, pliable dough, then cover and leave to rise for 1 hr.

Put the cherries in a pan with the sloe gin and cherry jam, then bring to a simmer. Leave to cool. Cut the marzipan into 36 thin slices.

Butter a 24cm pie dish with sloping sides or shallow cake tin. On a lightly floured surface, cut the dough into four sections and very briefly knead each one. Keep the pieces you’re not using covered and, one at a time, roll out one piece until it’s about 4mm thick. Cut out circles using a 7cm cutter. Save all the off-cuts in case you need to re-roll them. You’ll need 30-36 circles.

Lay a piece of marzipan on each circle of dough and add a small spoonful of cherry mixture. Fold the circles in half, then bring the two points together like a fortune cookie. Arrange them in the tin, around the edges with the points facing in. Make a second, smaller circle, then, finally, fill the centre. Cover with buttered cling film and leave for 1 hr.

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush the top of the dough with the egg and scatter with the sugar. Bake for 35-40 mins (turn the oven down if the dough browns too much). Cool a little and eat warm. Can be frozen once baked for 2 months. Wrap in foil and reheat from frozen in the oven.