Preheat the
oven to 425F, Gas 7. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface
and cut into a 30cm. Cut in half to make two rectangles. Place one piece
of pastry on a wetted baking sheet and brush all round the edges with
beaten egg. Spread over the apricot conserve. Fold the remaining
rectangle in half lengthways and cut about eight diagonal slits form the
center fold to within about 1cm from the edge all the way along.
Unfold the
pastry and lay it on top of the conserve covered pastry on the baking
sheet. Press the pastry edges together well to seal and knock up with
the back of a knife. Brush the slashed pastry with water and sprinkle
over the caster sugar and flaked almonds. Bake in the oven for 25-30
minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Remove the jalousie from the
oven and leave to cool. Serve sliced, with cream or natural yoghurt.
Use other
flavors of fruit conserve to fill the jalousie, or, if you prefer,
substitute some canned fruit pie filling instead. You could also make
smaller, individual jalousies to serve with morning coffee. Jalousie
means "shutter" in French, and the traditional slatted puff pastry
topping of this fruit pie looks exactly like the shutters which adorn
the window of French houses.
