As pretty as a picture, these pear dumplings filled with sticky apricots taste as good as they look!

Serves 4

400g sweet shortcrust pastry, thawed from frozen

4 pears, peeled with stalks intact

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

6 dried apricots, finely chopped

Milk, to glaze

Caster sugar, to dust

1 Preheat oven to 200°C. Remove the central core and seeds from each pear using an apple corer or sharp knife. Combine sugar, cinnamon and apricots. Fill pear cavities with some apricot mixture.

2 Divide pastry into 4 and roll each piece into a 20cm diameter circle. Place a pear on each circle of pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with milk and fold up around the pears. Press to seal and trim off any excess pastry.

3 Decorate with pastry leaves, if desired. Place pears in a baking pan lined with baking paper.

4 Brush pastries with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.