Cherry & Cream Puff Pastry Christmas Trees

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced (220°C conventional). Unroll the puff pastry sheet onto a lightly floured bench.
2. Using four different-sized star cutters, cut one of each size from the pastry. Continue cutting more stars in each size until all the pastry is used. Arrange the stars on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
3. Place four small cookie cutters in the corners of the tray. Set a second baking tray on top so it rests on the cutters, this helps the pastry rise evenly. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the stars are golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
4. Place the thickened cream, mascarpone and icing sugar into a bowl. Whip to soft peaks. Spoon the cream into a piping bag.
5. Add a little dollop of cherry jam to the largest star then pipe a swirl of cream, then top with the next-size star.Continue layering with cream and jam, finishing with the smallest star on top. Once completed, dust each tree with icing sugar and serve.

Notes

For the neatest, most stable trees, it’s much easier to work with larger star cutters. Smaller cutters can make the stars too fiddly to stack neatly.