Matcha Frangipane Puff Pastry Plait
This was roughly based on the French patisserie Gallette des Rois, which is eaten around the 6th of January for Epiphany. Eaten as part of the 12 days of Christmas but now also a pastry to eat through the New Year.
Easy to make with a few simple ingredients (especially if you use ready made pastry like I did ).
I used Ready made puff pastry but if you want to make your own especially a gluten free one then you will need to make this first.
You will need a rectangular piece of puff pastry 350mm x 230mm which is the size of a ready made puff pastry sheet, which you will need to cut in half.
Then in a bowl make your filling.
Add x1 and 1/2 cups of almond flour (meal /ground almonds) and one heaped teaspoon of good quality Matcha powder. Then add x1 tablespoon of kuzu root that’s been ground into a powder. Mix then add 1/2 a cup of maple syrup and 1/2 a teaspoon of almond essence, mix to form a dough.
Divide in half and lay out in the middle of each pastry sheet like this.
Slice diagonally on both sides, then from the bottom working up fold one slice over the other to form a plait. Tuck in the ends and brush the whole thing in plant based milk ( I used soy milk .) You can also sprinkle the top with flakes of almonds if you like.
Place each plait on a piece of parchment paper in a pre heated oven 200C and bake for around 20 minutes until golden brown.
Take your plaits out the oven and let them cool. You could dust with icing sugar if you like.
Slice and serve.
You can serve cold with some vegan cream.
They are also delicious warm for breakfast almost like an almond croissant. Just pop back in the oven and heat for a few minutes. Instead of making two large ones you could divide the pastry again and make four smaller individual ones. How will you eat yours?
Not just for January I think this is a delicious pastry you could serve any time of year and any time of day.