Caramel cardamom banana mille-feuilles

To make pastry, sift flour and salt into a bowl. Quickly grate butter coarsely into flour and use a round-ended knife to combine. Sprinkle with water and use knife in cutting motion to bring mixture together.

Bring pastry together with your hands and turn onto a very lightly floured surface. Use a lightly floured rolling pin to gently roll out the dough to a 25 x 45cm rectangle. (Don't worry if pastry looks motley and rough around the edges - if you overwork it, the butter will melt and the pastry won't 'puff' as well as it should.) Use a pastry brush to brush away any excess flour on the pastry. With a short end closest to you, fold the top quarter down and bottom quarter up to meet in the centre, then fold top half down to cover bottom half. Turn pastry 90° clockwise so folded edges are on your left. Repeat rolling and folding one more time. Wrap well in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Remove the dough from the freezer and unwrap. Starting with the folded edges on your left, repeat the rolling and folding process 2 more times. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. (The pastry can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days at this stage.)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

Remove pastry from freezer, unwrap and roll out to a 3mm-thick rectangle. Trim edges to form a 25 x 45cm rectangle. Use a sharp knife to cut pastry into ten 9 x 12.5cm rectangles. Carefully transfer pastry pieces to lined baking trays. Lightly brush top of each with egg and sprinkle evenly with pecans. Place in freezer for 15 minutes to chill.

Meanwhile, to make caramel cardamom bananas, place butter, brown sugar and cardamom seeds in a large frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until bubbling. Cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Add bananas and cook, stirring often, for 1-2 minutes or until coated and just heated through. Transfer to a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes or until cooled to lukewarm.

Bake the pastry in preheated oven, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 10 minutes or until golden, well puffed and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool on the trays.

Meanwhile, combine thickened and sour creams in a bowl and use a balloon whisk to whisk until soft peaks form. Cover and place in fridge.

Split each pastry rectangle in half. Spread the base with the whisked cream and top with the lukewarm banana mixture then the remaining pastry halves. Serve immediately dusted with the icing sugar.