Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and line a baking tray with parchment

Mix the spices together and set aside half of the mixture

Mix one half with the butter, almonds and icing sugar to form a paste

Roll out the pastry very thinly and cut edges to get a rectangle. Cut this into 6 equal squares. Imagine you are cutting out a frame but not quite, you want to cut the pastry about 1cm inside the edge and make a cut from 1cm in from the corner right along in a straight line to the next corner and then up the other side stopping 1cm from that corner. Start again with the knife 1cm past the corner and run along to next corner and go up the other side stopping 1cm from the corner. Now take the outer pastry frame and fold it overso it forms a frame, fold the other side and you get the twiddly bits at the edge. Paint under the edges to 'glue' the pastry in place and then brush the egg over the whole frame to glaze but not in the middle where the filling goes.

Spread a teaspoon of the paste in the middle of each pie and top with some of the dates chopped into small pieces

Grate 3/4 of the apple including the skin and spoon this between the pies on top of the paste

Using a mandolin finely slive the remaining apple and cut out triangles to place on top of the pies.

Mix the remaining spices with the demerara sugar and scatter over the pies along with the orange zest.

Bake for 15 minutes until all puffed and golden.

Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar to serve.