Elly's spiced roasted fruit with cinnamon trees, golden stars & brandy cream

1. To make the baked fruit, preheat oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. In a large bowl, toss the apples, pears, rhubarb and cranberries with the lemon juice. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, spices and maple syrup. Mix in 2 tbsp of the reserved rhubarb syrup as well. Add this mixture to the fruit, holding back 2 tbsp, and coat evenly. Pour the
fruit evenly into a 30x23cm (approx 2-litre) baking dish. Coat the nuts in the leftover butter and sugar mixture, then sprinkle the nuts over the fruit and bake for 40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, using cutters, make Christmas tree shapes from half the sheet of pastry, brush with egg yolk and then sprinkle with demerara sugar. Cut stars from the remaining pastry and simply brush with egg yolk. Place on 1-2 large baking trays and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the bases are dry and golden. Dust the trees with cinnamon and leave to cool on a wire rack. Arrange on a serving plate, then dust with icing sugar. Leave the stars to cool, then add to the plate of cinnamon trees.

4. To make the brandy cream, whip the cream in a large bowl until firm, then fold in the remaining ingredients and combine until smooth. Serve the baked fruit straight from the dish, alongside the bowl of cream and the pastry trees and stars. Let your guests make their own pie-in-a-bowl.