Recipe & words: Gretchen Lowe
Styling: Amber Armitage
Photography: Manja Wachsmuth
Featured: Homestyle Magazine
With a crunchy golden filo pastry on the outside and a moist, spicy fruit inner, this delicious apple strudel is simply irresistible. Medjool dates are luxurious and have a paper-thin skin and juicy sweet flesh which makes a perfect pairing with the tart apples. You could substitute with regular dates soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes.
Serves 6
Filling
8 sheets filo pastry
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
100g white breadcrumbs
80g brown sugar
80g medjool dates (or regular soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes)
40ml rum
1 tbsp flour
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ tsp ground cinnamon
50g butter, melted
1 egg, beaten with a little water
¼ cup thinly sliced almonds for decoration
Sieved icing sugar for dusting
Cinnamon custard
6 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
225ml milk
225ml cream
2 cinnamon sticks
For the filling, combine apples, breadcrumbs, sugar, dates, rum, flour, lemon juice and cinnamon in a bowl and toss to combine.
Lay a sheet of filo on a clean bench. Lightly brush all over with melted butter. Place another sheet on top and repeat process until all sheets are layered.
Place the filling lengthways down the centre of the pastry rectangle, shaping the filling into a log. Fold in the sides of pastry, then roll round the log of filling to secure.
Place filo parcel seam-side down on an oven tray. Brush with beaten egg and water then sprinkle with the sliced almonds.
Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with icing sugar and slice to serve.
For the custard, place the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl and whisk until well combined.
Place the milk, cream and cinnamon sticks into a separate pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for one minute.
Pour the egg and milk mixture onto the egg mixture and whisk together well.
Return the custard to the pan and continue to heat slowly (do not boil), until the custard has thickened and coats the back of the spoon.
A wonderful recipe from my days at Homestyle. Thanks to the talented Manja Wachsmuth for her photography and Amber Armitage for help with food styling. x
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