Apple & almond strudel
A perfect outrider to the coming autumn. If the summer sunshine starts to give way to rain, then celebrate the start of the UK apple season with something comforting. We realise a true strudel doesn’t use filo pastry but sometimes ease trumps tradition.
Cook's notes
Ground almonds soak up the juice from the filling and stops the pastry going soggy.
Ingredients
- 1 orange
- 80g mixed dried fruit
- 80g soft brown sugar
- 50g ground almonds
- 700g apples (a mix of dessert and cooking apples would be ideal)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds
- 50g butter
- 300g filo pastry (about 3 large sheets)
- 30g flaked almonds
- icing sugar to garnish
- 300g crème fraiche or cream to serve
Method
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Step 1
Finely zest the orange. Juice half of it into a small bowl and add the dried fruit to plump up for 10 mins while you prepare everything else.
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Step 2
Turn your oven to 200⁰C/gas 6 to preheat. Remove 1 tablespoon of the sugar and keep it to one side for sprinkling.
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Step 3
Place a small frying pan over a medium heat and add the ground almonds to the dry pan. Keep stirring until they start to turn golden, toasty, and fragrant. This will take about 3-4 minutes. Take care not to let them burn. Transfer to a plate to cool down immediately.
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Step 4
Peel and quarter the apples. Cut away the cores and roughly slice them. Throw them into a mixing bowl with the cinnamon, cardamom, and remaining sugar. Drain the orange away from the dried fruit and add the fruit to the bowl too. Mix well and leave to one side while you deal with the pastry.
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Step 5
Gently melt the butter. Lay a sheet of filo out on a piece of baking parchment or a clean tea towel. Brush generously with melted butter before placing another sheet on top and repeating. Do the same with the third and final sheet. Scatter the toasted, ground almonds across three quarters of the sheet – these will soak up the flavour and juice from the apples and protect your pastry from going soggy. Then arrange the apple filling across the bottom third of the sheet (along the shorter edge) and then roll it up like a large sausage roll, tucking the ends in as best you can as you go.
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Step 6
Transfer to a lined baking sheet and brush generously with more butter before scattering over the reserved sugar and the flaked almonds. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crisp.
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Step 7
When ready, leave to cool for 10 minutes before dusting lightly with icing sugar and serve to the table with a bowl of crème fraiche.