Almond Pastry Letter

Banketletter

450 grams / 1 lb frozen puff pastry (thawed out)
500 grams / 1 lb 2 oz. almond paste
1 egg
candied cherries

Heat the oven to 200ºC/390ºF. Put the sheets of puff pastry on top of each other and roll out to a square of 30x30 centimetres (12”x12”). Cut it in half and put them lengthwise together, wetting the ends to ‘glue’ it, making it into a 15x60 (6”x24”) piece of dough.

Shape the almond paste by hand into a 55 centimetres (22”) roll. Put the roll on the pastry and fold the dough over and around it. Put the seam and the ends together, using a bit of water and shape the roll - seam down - on a greased baking sheet into an ‘S’.

Loosely beat the egg and brush it on top of the letter. Put the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for about 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Decorate the top with a few candied cherries, with the seam and the sides.

To make your own (real) almond paste, use equal amounts of almond and sugar (250 grams or 9 oz.). Grind or grate the almonds, mix with the sugar and add one egg, a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated lemon peel. The paste can be made in advance and keeps well (if wrapped) in the fridge.