Recipe: Apple-Phyllo Strudel

I love pastry. As a kid, I'd sneakily break off little balls of any pastry mum was making, hide in the living room, and eat it raw. I always begged for the leftovers from pie crusts so I could play with them. And by play, I meant eat. It was always a very sad moment when it was time to throw away what was left, and clean up my hands. Extra dough always got thrown in the compost, where it got covered in old tea leaves and juice from what might have once been onions.

With this history behind me, I knew I had to do apple-pastry something while in the midst of the Apple Glut of 2008. While searching the freezer for ideas, I found not one, but two boxes of phyllo pastry! All the yum of crispy pastry with almost none of the work! I happily put one box in the fridge to defrost overnight, just like the box said.

Then the next day, I forgot about it. When I did remember, I just thought 'oh, I'll do that tomorrow!' and went about my business. The next day I had the apples all cooked, the oven pre-heated, amaretti biscuits crumbled, and when I opened the package the phyllo had the exact texture of dried, brittle paper (and about the same taste). Touching it shattered it into a thousand pieces. Was it the extra defrost day? Was it just old? The packaging certainly suggests the latter. I brought out package #2, and defrosted it in 20 minutes by opening the oven door, and placing the plastic-wrapped package on a tea towel on the open door.

(It's worth it to note that I have done this before: the first time I used phyllo, I bought it and brought it home, expecting to be able to use it right away. The oven works. Immersing it in hot water also works, as long as the package is ENTIRELY sealed. Ask me how I know.)

(why bother dirtying the food processor, when a fork works just as well?)

This dessert was very good. I didn't save the syrup from the frying pan full of apples and sugar, like the recipe suggests, simply because I was already going to be eating the whole thing by myself. It didn't refrigerate too well; the next day it was okay, but after that the phyllo got very soggy. I also didn't add any raspberries or dried fruit.

Apple-Phyllo Strudel
(original recipe from Epicurious can be found here)

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
6 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup amaretti cookie or graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed)
12 oz nonfat vanilla yogurt (optional)

Heat oven to 350°F.

In a 12-inch nonstick pan over medium heat, cook apples with dried fruit, sugar and cinnamon until tender, about 10 minutes. Let cool, reserving liquid for optional sauce. Layer 2 phyllo sheets on top of each other.

Coat top of phyllo layer with cooking spray; sprinkle with 1/3 of cookie crumbs. Layer 2 more sheets of phyllo on top, coat with cooking spray, then crumbs; repeat once more. Spread apple mixture on top; roll up from the shorter end.

If I'd peeled the apples, there wouldn't be that wonderful pink in the filling!

Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place strudel on sheet and bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Cut into 8 pieces. Place a slice on each plate; top with berries.

Optional sauce: Mix yogurt with reserved liquid and drizzle over slices.