Puff Pastry Flowers

Puff Pastry Flower

These are fairly straightforward to make, involving only a little manipulation once on the baking sheet in order to arrange the ‘petals’. They can be made any size you wish, however the smaller they are, the more fiddley they are to handle.

Also, a word of caution, be sure you cut them the correct way, because if you make a mistake with your initial cut, and cut the wrong edge, the petals fail to be formed and it ruins the entire batch. So, no pressure.

You will need:
1 roll of puff pastry – chilled
caster sugar

1. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 220°C, 200°C Fan.
3. Sprinkle the work surface with caster sugar.
4. Unroll the puff pastry and lay it onto the sugar.
5. Sprinkle more caster sugar over the pastry.
6. Use a rolling pin over the pastry to press the sugar into both sides.
7. You can make the flowers any size. I suggest starting with pastry that is 20cm wide.
8. Fold the pastry in half lengthways (to determine the middle) then fold each long side into the centre.
9. Fold the pastry in half widthways (to determine the middle) then fold each short side into the centre.
10. Fold the short sides into the middle again, to close the pastry up like a book.
11. With the folded pastry facing you like a book, with the rounded side to the left and the side with two folds to the right, cut of the right-hand edges and discard.
12. Cut 1cm thick slices and lay them flat on the baking parchment, with the cut edges upwards.
13. Press the middle together slightly, then flip one of the ends around forming a twist.
14. Spread out each ‘petal’ of pastry until they are evenly spaced.
15. Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the baking sheet around after 7 minutes to ensure even colouring. Don’t be tempted to take the bows out too early – they need to be nicely caramelised.
16. Cool on a wire rack.

These can be served as they are, or alongside something creamy like fruit fool or syllabub, so the petals can be broken off and dipped into.