METHOD

Tip the button mushrooms into a blender and pulse until finely chopped. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan, and fry the shallot, garlic and thyme leaves for a few minutes, until soft. Add the blitzed mushrooms and cook until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are dry, about 8-10 minutes.

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Add the double cream to the duxelle (the mushroom mix you have made in the previous step), and reduce until the cream coats the mushrooms, then season.

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Fry the wild mushrooms in a separate pan with a little vegetable oil until soft, about 1 minute. Once cooked, drain off the excess water. Roughly chop half of them then add them to the duxelle mix (keep the other half for serving). Leave to sit at room temperature until needed.

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Roll the puff pastry out to the thickness of a £1 coin on a lightly floured worksurface. Using a sideplate as a guide, cut out 8 discs of puff pastry, the 4 bases need to be around 10cm in diameter and the tops need to be around 14cm in diameter. Put the pastry circles on a baking tray, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

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To make the pithivier spoon 70g of mushroom mix  on a 10cm base disc of pastry. Brush the remaining outside edge of the base layer of pastry with a little water and then put the 14cm circle of pastry, on top. Press the two layers together so that there are no air bubbles and the surface is smooth. Be careful not to stretch the pastry too much.

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Press down with a round cutter or trim with a knife to give a neat, round edge. You’ll need a 1cm lip on the outside edge. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

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Whisk the egg yolks with a pinch of salt (do not add water or milk). Brush the egg wash over the pithiviers and put them back in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. Egg wash them again and chill for at least another hour.

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Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Score the tops with the back of a small knife, marking lines in a spiral from the
centre outwards, as shown in the picture, above. Bake until the pastry is well cooked, crisp, and dark brown in colour, about 15-20 minutes.

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Serve with the remaining wild mushrooms, and some parsley leaves.

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