• Around 12oz frozen puff pastry, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons of apricot jam
• 4 apricot halves, retain some of the juice
• 1 oz almonds or chopped nuts
• 2 oz soft cream cheese
• 1 oz raisins
• grated rind of a lemon
• honey
• milk
• icing sugar to dust

1. Roll out the pastry thinly and cut into 8 squares about 5” by 5”.
2. Take 4 of the squares and put one tablespoon of jam in the centre of each.
3. Place half an apricot in the centre of each square, and sprinkle with the almonds or chopped nuts.
4. Fold the pastries into shapes, either by folding in half to make a triangular pastry, or by folding each corner into the centre to make a square “envelope”.
5. Next make the filling for the cream cheese pastries. Take the cheese, raisins, lemon rind and honey and mix together.
6. Place a little of the mixture into the centre of each square.
7. Fold the pastries as above.
8. Place the pastries on a baking tray, brush with a little milk and bake in the oven at
9. 200º C until cooked and golden.
10. Make a thin glaze for the pastries by combining the icing sugar with a little of the retained apricot juice or water. Drizzle the glaze over the pastries whilst they are still warm. You can also just use honey as a glaze.

You can make these pastries slightly healthier by using apricots canned in natural juice, rather than sweetened sugar sysrup. Also switch the cream cheese for curd or “cottage cheese” for a lower calorie count. These pastries can be frozen before they are glazed. To defrost, simply place in a moderately warm oven for around 10 minutes.

Other Danish pastry fillings and ideas

• Raisin and golden syrup
• Tinned black cherries in juice
• Chocolate ( not for those watching their fat intake!)
• Or try savoury fillings for breakfast, like chopped boiled egg and bacon, spicy sausage or tuna and egg. Don´t forget to omit the sweet glaze for the savoury version!

If you are short on time, don't bother making individual pastries, simply make the pastry into two long rolls, filling generously and slice into individual portions to serve.