Pastry delights and cupcakes

The versatility of pastry in baking and cooking is best flaunted by two vastly different recipes appealing to the sweet and savoury tooth, while a novel way to bake those Christmas-themed cupcakes will also go down well.

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Poached and filled pears with puff pastry

SERVES 6 - Takes 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

750ml sweet wine, like Muscadel

6 Forelle pears

125ml blue cheese

100ml walnuts, toasted and chopped

400g puff pastry, defrosted

METHOD

• Peel the pears and core them, leaving the stems on. Poach the pears in the sweet wine in a medium saucepan on low for 15 minutes or until just tender, but not too soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to cool. Reduce the sweet wine further until syrupy.

• Mix the cheese and walnuts together in a small bowl and stuff the cooled pears with the mixture.

• Cut the puff pastry into 5cm wide strips.

• Twist a pastry strip around each pear and close the bottom with another strip of pastry. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C.

• Bake the pears in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a rocket salad and a drizzle of the reduced sweet-wine syrup.

Beet Wellington

SERVES 8 TO 10

Takes 2 hrs 45 mins + freezing

INGREDIENTS

4 medium to large, same-size beetroot olive or avocado oil, for rubbing50g butter 2 leeks, finely chopped 1kg mushrooms, finely chopped small handful of thyme, leaves picked 1 garlic clove, crushed60ml sherry 2 x 400g rolls puff pastry, defrosted 250g goat's cheese, crumbled handful chives, finely chopped zest of 1 lemon 1 egg 5ml waterbaby leaves, to garnish (optional)

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 200°C. Rub the beetroot with oil and place on a roasting tray. Roast for about one hour 20 minutes or until tender. Cool and peel.