Pastries Dessert Recipes - Minted Currant Puffs Recipe

Ingredients

• 225g/2 cups plain flour

• a pinch of salt

• 175g/3/4 cup white vegetable fat, diced

• cold water, to mix

• 30ml/2 tbsp chopped mint

• 45ml/3 tbsp granulated sugar

• 100g/2/3 cup currants

• a little milk, to glaze

• caser sugar, for sprinkling

• whipped or clotted cream, to serve

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Method:

1. Make the rough puff pastry: sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the vegetable fat and leave in cubes. Mix with enough cold water to form a soft, lumpy dough.

2. Draw the mixture into a ball, then roll out on a floured surface to a rectangle about 1 cm/1/2 in thick. Fold the top third down and the bottom third up over it. Press the edges with the rolling pin to seal and give the dough a quarter turn.

3. Roll and fold twice more, giving a quarter turn after each folding. Wrap in Clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix the mint with the granulated sugar and currants. Roll out the chilled dough thinly and cut into 16 rounds using a 10 cm/4 in cutter or a small saucer as a guide.

5. Re-knead and roll any trimmings, if necessary, to make the final rounds. Divide the filling between the centers of the rounds.

6. Dampen the edges and draw up over the filling, sealing the edges well together. Turn over and roll lightly with a rolling pin to flatten so that you can see the currants through the pastry. Transfer to baking (cookie) sheets.

7. Brush with a little milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 for about 15 minutes until puffy and golden. Serve warm with whipped or clotted cream.