I Made Apple Strudels (Yippee!)

I made this late last night.  Apple Strudels.  Actually it was early this morning at about 12:30am, right after we got home from crashing The Fernandez's valentine's dinner at Enzo... hehe.  Went over to join them after my dance thingy.  Need a drink anyway.

The Apple Strudels turned out rather nicely (my personal view la... :p).  I had some for breakfast this morning.  It would be perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Unfortunately, we do not have any at home and ice cream for breakfast?  I would be every kid's favourite somebody! Lols...

Packed some for two girlfriends too whom I met up for tea this afternoon and decorated the silver box with a maroon ribbon and a cut out card. ;)  I think they look cute.  And here's the recipe I promised them that I would share:

Ingredients:
500g filo pastry, thawed if frozen (actually, the standard box is more than enough)
Icing sugar for dusting

For the filling:
1kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
115g fresh white breadcrumbs
150g granulated sugar
1tsp cinnamon powder
75g raisins
Finely  grated rind of 1 lemon
115g unsalted butter, melted

1) Preheat the oven to 180deg Celsius.  To make the filling, place the sliced apples in a large mixing bowl.  Add the breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon, raisins and grated lemon rind and mix well.  Melt the butter in a small pan, then stir it in to the mixture.

2) Lay a sheet of filo pastry on a lightly floured work surface and brush with a little melted butter.  Place another sheet on top and brush with melted butter as before.  Continue stacking the sheets and brushing with the butter until there are four or five layers in all.

3) Spoon the filling into the centre of the pastry, leaving a 2.5cm/1inch border all round.  Fold in the two shorter sides, then roll up from one long side, Swiss-roll style (I did it parcel style).  Place the strudel on a lightly buttered baking sheet, seam side down.  Brush the pastry with the remaining melted butter.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden.

4) Remove the strudel from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  Dust with icing sugar before cutting into slices for serving.

Extra notes:
I used only about 5 apples, approximately 750g and the filling can make more than one loaf of Apple Strudels.  So reduce the ingredient accordingly if you wish to make only one loaf.

Difficulty rate: 4/10 (easy)


Have fun!