Saturday, March 01, 2014

Apple Cherry Strudel

We had frozen cherries left from Danny's fish recipe, so he made a strudel for dessert. This uses Phyllo dough, which makes it a snap to assemble. We had half an apple left in the fridge, so it ended up in the strudel as well. Use whatever you have, I'll give you the basic technique instead.

You Will Need:

15 sheets Phyllo dough (about 1/2 a roll in a 2 roll box)
1/2 cup clarified butter (you won't need it all, but better to have extra than not enough)
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs toasted in 2 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 cups fruit (cherries, apples, even raisins. Be creative)
Spices (I used a teaspoon of mixed spice, but use what you prefer)
1 cup granulated sugar (you can use less if your fruit is sweet)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease a baking sheet or use parchment. The filling will leak, so do as you see fit. Combine fruit, sugar, and spices in a bowl, and set aside. Brush each sheet of phyllo lightly with melted butter, and carefully cover with another sheet until you have 15 layers. Do not butter the top layer. Spread the entire sheet with the buttered breadcrumbs. In the 1/4 of the sheet at the bottom, spread your filling across. Carefully fold the edges in, and turn once. Quickly brush with butter, then continue rolling and tucking, brushing after each turn until it is sealed. Place on the baking sheet seam side down. Brush again with butter, and slash deeply several times across the top at an angle.

Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven, brush again with butter, and return the pan to the oven rotating it. Bake another 15-20 minutes, or until golden and flaky.

Cool on a rack, then glaze with icing sugar and water, or dust with icing sugar before serving.

3 comments:

Curtise said...

Mmmmm. That's all.
PS. Differences in spelling intrigue me; you say phyllo, we say filo. xxx

Goody said...

I've seen both here-I think it varies by manufacturer. I buy the "phyllo" brand.

Goody said...

...caus if you eat too much it makes you, phat?