Cheese Straws

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of all-butter puff pastry
• 100 g mature cheddar, finely grated
• 40 g parmesan, finely grated
• 2 tsp english mustard
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/4 tsp cayenne

Method

1. Keep the pastry cold

   Unroll the pastry and work fast on a cool surface. Puff pastry rises because solid layers of butter turn to steam — warm and soft, the butter smears and you get biscuits instead.

2. Coat one side

   Brush the pastry with beaten egg mixed with the mustard, then scatter over both cheeses and the cayenne, pressing them in with the rolling pin so they stick.

3. Fold and cut

   Fold the sheet in half over the filling, roll lightly to seal, then cut into 1.5 cm strips. Folding puts cheese inside as well as on top, which is what makes them taste of cheese rather than pastry.

4. Twist and chill

   Twist each strip several times, press the ends onto a lined tray so they cannot unwind, and chill for 15 minutes. Cold straws hold their twist in the oven.

   15 min

5. Bake

   Bake at 200°C until deep gold and crisp right through. Pale straws are soft in the middle — take them further than feels right.

   15 min