Party Ring

Serves: 6

Preparation: 35 minutes, Baking time: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe Peaches
  • Boiling water
  • 275 ml Whipping or Double Cream, whipped
  • 150 g Raspberries
  • 100 g Icing Sugar

Choux Pastry

  • 60 g Butter, diced
  • 70 g Strong White Flour
  • 1 tsp Caster Sugar
  • 2 Eggs, beaten

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Put the oven shelf in the top half of the oven if your oven isn't fan assisted. Grease a baking tray.

To make the choux pastry, put 150 ml of cold water and the butter in a saucepan. Place over a medium heat until the butter has melted and it all comes to the boil. Meanwhile, sieve the flour on to a sheet of baking parchment that has been folded in half. Remove the butter water from the heat and 'shoot' the flour into the mixture with the sugar. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon (or use an electric hand whisk) until you have a smooth ball of paste. Add the eggs gradually, beating well between each addition until the paste is smooth and glossy.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a 1 cm plain nozzle. Sprinkle water on to the baking tray and tap to get rid of any excess.

Pipe the pastry into six 7.5 cm circles.

Bake for 15–20 minutes until well risen and golden brown.

Make a small slit in each ring to let the steam escape and return to the oven for a couple of minutes to dry out the centres.

Set aside on a wire rack to cool.

Dip the peaches in boiling water. Skin them and cut them into small pieces.

Split the rings in half and fill the bottom half of the pastry ring with the whipped cream.

Top with the peaches and raspberries and replace the lid.

Mix the icing sugar with 3–4 teaspoons of water to make a glace icing. Drizzle the icing over the rings to decorate.

Tip

The pastry rings can be made in the morning or the day before. Put them into an absolutely airtight tin when cold. They can then be filled just before the party.

This recipe is from Vintage Teatime published by Simon & Schuster in 2012.