Apple Hearts

This easy recipe is great for a Valentine treat, but it is equally good for other occasions. It can be made small as a sweet canapé but is also delicious a little larger as a dessert. Make up ahead and store uncooked in the fridge until ready to bake for 8-10 minutes or so. It’s almost as good served cold too.

Ingredients - serves 6 main or 12 canapé sized

1 pack Jus-roll puff pastry

1 block ready made white marzipan

1 egg, beaten

25g butter, melted

25g caster sugar

1 or 2 eating apples (depending on size), peeled and cut across into large slices about 5mm thick.

Cinnamon and icing sugar to dust

Heart-shaped cutters - mine were from Amazon (or cut a templates out of card)

Method

Heat oven to 190°c

Unroll the puff pastry on a floured board.

Cut out 6 heart shapes (approx 9cm in length and 9cm at the widest point across) or 12 (4.5cm x 4.5cm). Place on a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg.

Roll out some marzipan on a board sprinkled with icing sugar. 5mm thick for the dessert size and about 2.5mm for the canapé size.

Cut 2 sizes of marzipan heart shapes, each size smaller than the pastry hearts. Put the marzipan onto the pastry.

Cut apple hearts the same sizes as the marzipan. Dip the apple hearts into the caster sugar and put on top of the marzipan.

Brush the prepared apple tarts carefully with melted butter. Cook for 8-10 minutes or store in the fridge and cook when required.

Dust the cooked tarts with cinnamon and icing sugar and serve warm or cold.