Date and Pecan Pastry Puffs

Imagine this... the day is feeling a little bit grey, you've been running errands all morning and you really need a little pick-me-up. You find a coffee shop to get that much needed dose of caffeine but as you're pondering whether to get a vanilla or chai latte your eyes begin to wander to the glass cabinets filled with beautiful, glistening pastry delights. Its sweet, soft and flaky and now everything feels better. Sometimes you need that all the time. And you can.

One day I will give making Danish pastry a try but for now, I cheated. I used ready made puff pastry and I have no regrets. Please don't judge me. If you would like to make your own pastry from scratch then go for it and massive congratulations - you obviously have your life together and I'm jealous.

My favourite pastries include cinnamon swirls, pan au raisin and pecan plaits so I took inspiration from them all and just threw tasty bits in the basket as I wondered around the shop (don't shop when hungry, it makes it so much harder and way more expensive).

Makes 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for pastry puffs:

• 1 roll of ready made puff pastry
• 150g dates
• 20g pecans
• 150g cold vanilla custard
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 20g demerara sugar
• 1 beaten egg - to use as egg wash

Ingredients for date icing:

• 100g dates
• 100ml water
• 2 tbsp. demerara sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 120g icing sugar

To top:

• 10g chopped pecans

Method:

For the pastry puffs:

Preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Chop the dates and pecans into smallish chunks.

Roll out the puff pastry sheet with the longest side facing yourself. Using a rolling pin make the sheet about 2cm bigger in every direction. Don't make the pastry too thin.

Slather over the custard leaving about an inch around the edge of the pastry. It will spread when you roll it up later.

Sprinkle the demerara sugar and cinnamon equally all over. Scatter the dates and pecans equally all over.

Roll the pastry up carefully starting at the one of the longest edges. Don't wrap it too tight and try not to make any holes.

Cut the pastry into individual rolls (about 1 inch width for each).

Place them with the inside swirl facing up on the baking paper and gently push down using a flat object, like a plate. Squash them down until they are about half the height.

Place in the oven and reduce the heat to 180C. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Once cooked, place them on a clean piece of baking paper to cool.

How easy - can you believe I'm even passing this as a recipe?!

To make the icing:

Finely chop the dates. Add the water and dates to a saucepan and place on a medium high heat. Once the mixture starts to get a little more sticky add the demerara sugar and cinnamon. Cook the mixture for about 15-20 minutes or until it has thickened and become quite sticky.

Leave to cool a little.

Push the date mixture through a sieve into a bowl so you get a smooth jam like sauce. Sift in the icing sugar and whisk it altogether until completely smooth.

Drizzle over the pastries and then sprinkle over the chopped pecans.

Look how shiny! Excuse my half eaten one due to terrible patience and a gluttonous nature

We enjoyed these straight out the oven, later with tea and on a walk in the local park. I was really happy with how these came out, especially with using ready made puff pastry. I love Danish pastry so much and was worried the texture just wouldn't cut it. These were completely addictive and the only thing I would do differently next time is make them double the size.

If you love pastries too then please give these a go, they are so easy and you will have zero regrets!

Love, Rachael x