In a small jug, lightly mix the yeast, milk, egg, sugar, salt and cardamom. Set aside. In a bowl, add the flour and cubed butter. With a pastry cutter, blend together gently until the butter is cut to the flour but still is visible – you want some butter pieces still around 1cm in size (¼ – ½ inch).

Pour the wet mixture gently into the dry mixture. Fold together only until everything is just moistened and starts to come away from the edges of the bowl. Cover with plastic and pop in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, lightly dust a work surface and roll out the dough into a 30x20cm (12 x 8 inch) rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds, and roll out again to the same size. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat the folding and chilling process. The dough is now ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator and place onto baking paper. Mix the apple, sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the apple mixture down the centre of the dough. Cut about 8-10 strips (on a slight angle) evenly down each side of the mixture. A pizza cutter works well. Fold the strips over the apple filling in a crisscross pattern.

Let pastry rise for 30 minutes until it looks a little puffy. Brush the pastry with the egg wash, then sprinkle the pearl sugar (across the entire top of the pastry) and sliced almonds on top (almonds just down the centre). Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.