Prue Leith's King Charles stamp salmon pie

Step 1

In a small bowl, mix all the herb layer ingredients together; season. Unroll one pastry sheet. Cut out your decorations. (For digits, score them first, then freeze the pastry for 10 minutes – it will be easier to cut them out.) Chill. Wrap and freeze the leftover pastry to use another time.

Step 2

Lay the second pastry sheet on baking parchment on a chopping board. Spread ½ the herb layer in a rectangle in the middle, leaving a 5cm border around the edge. Season the remaining herb mix with more black pepper. Arrange the salmon tightly together in one layer to cover the herb rectangle as evenly as possible. Season with pepper; spoon over the remaining herb mix.

Step 3

Add 1 tbsp water to the egg yolk and whisk. Brush the entire pastry border with the eggwash. Lay the final sheet of pastry over the top. Gently press around the fish to seal and smooth down to remove any air pockets. Trim to straighten up the edges before making semi circular stamp perforations around each edge using a small round cutter or a piping nozzle.

Step 4

Brush the whole pie with eggwash. Place the decorations on top. Brush with eggwash, then chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas mark 7; put a baking sheet on the middle rack to heat up. Slide the pie, on its parchment, onto the hot baking sheet; bake for 25 minutes untilgolden and the fish is opaque and cooked through.