Jane says: “These extremely tasty little mouthfuls are a great way of stretching smoked salmon to feed more people, as well as using up scraps or off-cuts of smoked salmon.”

Makes 24

Ingredients

• 125g smoked salmon, chopped (I snip it in a small bowl with scissors)
• 1 teaspoon very finely diced shallot
• 2 heaped tablespoons crème fraîche
• 2 teaspoons small capers, drained
• a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice
• freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 box of 24 ready-made mini croustades (such as Rahms)

To garnish:

• snipped (or a crisscross of) chives; snipped salad cress; capers; a grinding of black pepper; avruga/onuga (herring roe) caviar, or (orange) salmon or trout caviar

Method

Put the smoked salmon and shallot into a small bowl. Add the crème fraîche, capers, lemon or lime juice and a good grinding of black pepper and mix together. Check the seasoning. It may or may not need a little salt, but it should be very well seasoned.

Arrange the croustades on a pretty plate or board. Just before serving, divide the salmon mixture between the croustades and garnish with any of the suggestions.

Get ahead

• Complete step 1 up to 3 days in advance, cover and chill.
• Croustades can be filled up to 30 minutes in advance, as long as filling is stiff with no seeping liquid (as it should be), which will quickly make them soggy.

Hints & tips

• Alternatively, use salmon mixture to top small crisp croûtes of bread (baked with a drizzle of olive oil and a scattering of sea salt flakes), or tiny blinis. It also makes a lovely starter, formed into quenelle shapes between two dessertspoons, with some baby salad leaves and served with toast. Or pack it into a small bowl and serve as you would pâté.

Jane says: “Far easier and quicker than it looks, this festive pull-apart wreath always goes down a storm, as sausage rolls do! With a salad, it makes a lovely lunch or supper, too.”

Makes 18–20 pull-apart rolls

Ingredients

• 500g best-quality sausagemeat (not too fatty)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace generous grating of nutmeg
• 1 x 320g chilled ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry sheet (straight from the fridge)
• plain flour, for dusting
• 1 egg, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt, for the egg wash
• Dijon mustard, for spreading

Topping suggestions:

• (a sprinkling of) nigella/ onion seeds, pink peppercorns (roughly crushed in your palm), dried chilli flakes, sea salt flakes

For the sriracha mayo:

• 6 tablespoons good thick mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sriracha sauce, or to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Line a baking sheet, at least 32cm wide, with baking parchment or silicone paper.

Mix the sausagemeat and ground spices together and set aside.

Unwrap the pastry (keep the paper for future use) and roll it out further on a lightly floured worktop to a 45 x 30cm rectangle. With the rectangle in a landscape position, brush a 2.5cm margin of egg wash along the top of the long edge (furthest from you), then thinly spread the remainder of the pastry with Dijon mustard.

Form the sausagemeat into a long, even roll the length of the pastry and place it along the pastry, a third of the way up from the bottom – this is easiest done by rolling it into sections, then joining them up on the pastry. Fold and wrap the unglazed (bottom) section of pastry over the sausagemeat, then continue to roll up to (and over) the glazed edge, leaving the seam underneath. Shape to form into an even-sized sausage roll, if necessary. Trim the floppy ends, transfer to the baking sheet, seam-side down, and curl into a wreath shape – it will be about 22cm wide; glue the ends together with some egg wash.

Cut down into sausage rolls 3cm apart (without slicing right through the pastry in the centre of the wreath), then from the centre of the wreath push the rolls out; the wreath will become bigger, around 27–28cm. Working clockwise, twist each roll until the sausagemeat is showing, being careful to keep the wreath intact without tearing; the sausage rolls will separate further. Brush the pastry with egg wash and scatter with any/all of the topping suggestions – I go for them all!

Bake for 30–35 minutes until crisp and golden and the pastry is cooked through (cover loosely with foil if browning too fast after 15 minutes). Meanwhile, make the sriracha mayo by combining the mayonnaise and sriracha sauce in a small serving bowl, then set aside.

Transfer the wreath, on or off its paper, to a round platter and serve with the bowl of sriracha mayo in the middle. The wreath will happily keep warm for 30 minutes or more.

Get ahead

• Complete to end of step 5 up to 3 days in advance (but omit salt flakes until just before baking), cover and chill; bake as opposite. Or freeze for up to 2 months; cook from frozen (oven temp as above) for 5–10 minutes longer.
• Make the sriracha mayo up to 3 days ahead, cover and chill. Serve at room temp.

Jane says: “No introduction needed really, other than to say these are far easier than you may think and make lovely (and impressive!) presents – who doesn’t love a florentine?”

Makes about 26

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 60g demerara sugar 
• 60g flaked almonds 
• 30g unsalted, shelled
• pistachios, roughly chopped 
• 50g dried (pitted) dates or figs, roughly chopped 
• 50g dried cherries or cranberries (or a mixture of the two), roughly chopped
• 50g mixed candied peel 
• 1 piece of stem ginger in syrup, drained and chopped (optional)
• 15g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon double cream 
• 150–200g dark chocolate (minimum 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment or silicone paper.

Melt the butter and demerara sugar together in a pan on a gentle heat. Set aside.

Mix all the nuts, fruit, candied peel and stem ginger (if using) together in a mixing bowl, then add the flour and stir to coat. Stir the cream into the butter mixture, then pour this over the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Dot heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto the lined baking sheets, leaving a little space for spreading during cooking. Flatten each one with the back of the teaspoon, trying to avoid holes as best you can, then bake for 8–12 minutes or until golden brown. Leave on the baking sheets for 3–5 minutes or until firmed up, then transfer to a wire rack using a palette knife and leave to cool. Repeat to make the remainder, if necessary.

Melt the chocolate in a small, heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in a microwave on High in 30-second bursts. Put a sheet of baking parchment or silicone paper under the wire rack to catch any drips of chocolate. When cold, turn the florentines over with their flat underside now uppermost.

With a teaspoon, small palette knife or brush, spread a layer of melted chocolate over each florentine and leave until the chocolate is cold and set hard, around an hour or so, or chill. If you like, just before the chocolate fully sets, mark a swirly, wavy pattern with a fork. (Scrape up the excess dripped chocolate and use for something else.)

Arrange the florentines overlapping on a plate, alternating the chocolate and fruit and nut sides uppermost, or store in an airtight container until required. A light dusting of icing sugar just before serving looks pretty, too.

Get ahead

• Store florentines in an airtight container at room temp or in fridge for up to 1 month or more. Or freeze for up to 3 months.

Hints & tips

• Substitute any other nuts or dried fruit you may prefer or have to hand, except for the flaked almonds.
• Any scraggy edges can be ‘tidied up’ while still warm when florentines come out of oven. A pastry cutter is useful for this.