Chef Joey's Apple Strudel

Chef Joey Z.'s Note:

I love apples and strudel is one of my favourite desserts to make. This one makes 4 strudels. You cook the apples and currants together before you build the strudel. It makes it so yummy. You can peel your apples if you wish. I used my food processor to slice the apples, it really is a time saver. You could half this recipe if you wanted to. Note: I didn't include the thawing time for the strudel, or the soak time for the currants.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 16

Yield: 4.0 strudels

• 8 granny smith apples (cored and sliced thin)
• 2 ounces vegan margarine
• 1 cup currant
• 1 cup orange juice (divided and to soak the currants in)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ½ cup dry sweetener (I used Xylitol)
• 4 sheets puff pastry (I use Peppridge Farm)
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar (soft)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425'F.
2. Put the currants in the orange juice and let them soak for about 15 minutes. Set aside.
3. Grind your almonds. Set aside,.
4. Thaw the puff pastry for 40 minutes.
5. Heat the vegan margarine in a large saute pan.
6. Add the prepared apples to the pan and cook until the apples start to turn golden.
7. Drain the currants but save the orange juice. Take 4 tablespoons of the orange juice and add to the apples in the saute pan. Add the honey, Xylitol and soaked currants.
8. Continue stirring the apple mixture over medium heat until the Xylitol and honey dissolve and apples are just tender.
9. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and leave to cool completely.
10. Once the puff pastry has thawed, lay the sheets out on a counter (all of them) and gently roll with a rolling pin to seal the edges. The kind I use are square and have 2 seams down the middle. They can break, so its good to flatten them a little.
11. Sprinkle 1/4 of the ground almonds on one half of each of the pastries.
12. Drain the liquid out of the apple mixture.
13. Divide the apple mixture on 1/2 of each of the 4 puff pastries. Sprinkle each with 1/4 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of the soft brown sugar.
14. Dip a pastry brush into the beaten egg and seal the edges around the apple mixture. Fold the top over and seal firmly, you don't want the apple to seep out.
15. Using a pair of scissors, cut slits down the pastry to allow the steam to escape. Brush the top of the strudel with the egg wash.
16. You can serve this warm with your favourite ice cream, or serve at room temperature with whipped cream. Or sprinkle with powdered sugar.
17. Bon Appetit!