Cherry and custard twists

The recipe can be simplified: skip the cherry filling and top the baked twists with fresh raspberries and chopped pistachios. They can also be brushed with apricot jam and drizzled with white chocolate.

Ingredients

For the custard

• egg yolk — 1
• icing sugar — 2 tbsp
• cornflour — 1 tbsp
• milk — 200 ml
• butter — 60 g
• vanilla — optional

For the cherries

• pitted cherries — 200 g
• icing sugar — to taste
• starch — 1 tsp
• puff pastry (yeast-leavened)

Method

1. Whisk the yolk, icing sugar and cornflour together in a bowl.
2. Warm the milk in a saucepan and pour it into the bowl, stirring constantly.
3. Whisk until smooth, pour back into the saucepan and set over a low heat, stirring again.
4. After a minute the custard will start to thicken; stir briskly and take it off the heat. Watch it carefully at this point so that it does not split.
5. Add the butter and whisk until smooth.
6. Put the cherries in a saucepan, add icing sugar and set over a medium heat.
7. Dissolve the starch in the cherry juice and add it to the pan. Stir with a spoon until thickened, then remove from the heat.
8. Dust the work surface with flour, lay out the pastry, roll it lightly and fold it in half. Cut into strips, plait two strips together and coil them into a spiral.
9. Transfer to a baking tray, make a hollow in each twist and add a tablespoon of custard.
10. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 25–30 minutes. About halfway through, open the oven, spoon the cherries over the custard and finish baking.