Festive Strudel Food

FESTIVE STRUDEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ Gas 4. Lay out 6 sheets of filo pastry on a clean tea towel, overlapping each by an inch or so, so they cover the tea towel.
• Cook's Note: The filo should cover the tea towel completely, with just a little overhang at one of the shorter ends.
• Work quickly so your pastry doesn't dry out and brush some melted butter all over it. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and 2 ounces/ 50 g of the sugar, then crumble over your ginger nuts to add a nice bit of crunch. Carefully layer the rest of the pastry sheets on top and brush again with butter.
• Use your hands to crumble the Christmas pudding into a bowl then grate in the fruit, cores and all. You want to have about the same amount of grated fruit as you've got pudding. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar, and mix it all together to break up the pudding a bit more. Sprinkle this all over the pastry so it's roughly covered, leaving the overhang clear. Place the chocolate in a row on top of the Christmas pudding, down the short side nearest the overhang.
• Fold the overhang over the chocolate and pinch it up, then lift up your tea towel, and use it to help you carefully roll up your strudel. Tuck the ends under to seal it and transfer to a large nonstick pan. Brush it all over with butter then sprinkle over a little more sugar. Bake in the hot oven for about 40 minutes until crisp, golden and gorgeous looking. It might split a bit and look slightly rustic, but I think that's quite nice. Cook's Note: You could wrap an extra layer of filo round it before cooking if you want it to look a bit neater.
• Once the strudel is cooked, leave to cool, then use a serrated knife to cut the strudel into
• 2-inch/ 5 cm slices. Dust these with icing sugar and serve with ready-made custard from the refrigerator.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING STRUDEL

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix the pudding, mascarpone and Baileys. Lay out a sheet of filo on a large flat baking tray, brush with some melted butter and lay another sheet on top. Repeat with more butter and filo until you have 4 layers.
• Place the filling in a log in the centre and brush the border with butter. Roll up to enclose the filling, then brush with the remaining butter. Can be chilled for 1 day until ready to bake. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden brown, dust with icing sugar and serve warm with cream or custard.

APPLE STRUDEL

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Heat 75g of the sugar and the vanilla seeds in a medium, heavy-based frying pan over a medium-low heat for 5-8 mins, or until golden brown and caramelised. Add the apples, currants, sultanas, allspice, nutmeg and walnuts, then cook for 10 mins or until the apple is tender. Remove the apple mix from the pan with a slotted spoon and cool to room temperature.
• Line two baking trays with baking paper. Place a sheet of filo on one of the trays, then brush lightly with the melted butter. Sprinkle over 1 tsp sugar. Repeat the process until there are 3 layers of filo. Repeat with the remaining sheets of filo on the second tray.
• Divide the apple mix along the shorter edge of both pastry sheets and gently roll into 2 logs, tucking in the ends as you go. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle over 1 tbsp sugar. Can be made up to one day ahead, kept chilled. Bake for 25 mins, or until the pastry is golden brown and crisp. Let cool slightly, then cut each strudel into 6 diagonal slices. Serve two slices each with a dollop of crème fraîche on the side.