Cherry cheesecake turnovers

Put the frozen cherries in a pot with the juice of half a lemon, the granulated sugar, the water and the cornstarch.

Mix and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens.

If it thickens too far, add a little water at a time until it is thick but not runny or gluey.

Take it off the heat and stir in the pure almond extract.

Let the filling come to room temperature; it can be made up to three days ahead and kept refrigerated. To cool it fast, sit the pot in a big bowl of ice for about 15 minutes.

For the cheesecake filling, mix the room temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and the whisked egg together; a hand mixer gives the smoothest result.

Cut the puff pastry sheets into five inch squares.

Put one tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the centre of each square and a heaping tablespoon of the cherry filling on top; do not overfill or they will not seal.

Gather the ends together and press them down with the tines of a fork to seal.

Put the pastries on baking trays lined with parchment paper.

If the filling is still warm or the pastry has gone soft, chill the whole trays for about 20 minutes; cold pastry puffs up better.

Any that will not be baked now can be frozen solid on the tray, transferred to freezer safe bags, kept about a month and baked straight from frozen.

Whisk the egg yolk with the milk to make an egg wash and brush the tops.

Cut slits in the tops so steam can escape.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake on the centre rack for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.

Take them out and let them come to room temperature.

Whisk the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla together and drizzle over the cooled pastries, or serve the glaze on the side. Confectioner's sugar dusted on top works instead.