Chocolate Pear Strudel

This was sort of a lazy person's dessert, but I simply didn't feel up to a challenge today. I used phyllo dough, which takes strudel from pastry making to simple assembly. Fine with me. This recipe makes 2 loaves.

You Will Need:

20 sheets thawed phyllo dough
1/2 cup clarified butter, melted
1-2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
3 large pears, thickly sliced (peeled and cored-but you are smart enough to know that already) tossed with 1/2 cup granulated sugar and a generous pinch of ginger
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.

Quickly assemble the phyllo by brushing each layer with butter-do ten sheets for each strudel. On the last layer, butter the top, spread with breadcrumbs, and in the bottom 1/4 of the rectangle, pile half the pears and chocolate. Carefully roll it up, tucking in the ends as you go. Place seam side down on baking sheet. Cut about 5 vents across the top and brush generously with more butter. Repeat with second strudel.

Bake 20 minutes, baste with more butter, and rotate pan. return to oven and bake another 10-20 minutes, or until deeply golden. Cool, then dust with confectioner's sugar, or icing if you prefer. Makes 2 strudels.