A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine contacted me to help her out with an event she was setting up for her son’s school. In order to broaden the knowledge of her child and his classmates, she had set up a series of international meals to be given to the students throughout the year. She had called a local restaurant to help her out with the German meal. Unfortunately she had forgotten to ask him to provide the dessert as well. Knowing that I am married to a German man, myself, she called me to see if I could help her out. Of course I did! A teacher at heart, I was not about deny her demand so I agreed to provide the desserts she asked.

There are thousands of German desserts, but I thought that apple strudel would be very appropriate, and this is what i made.

In a real traditional strudel the dough would be made from scratch, but not having the time on hand I decided to make the Apple Strudel the easy way, that is using filo dough.

I hope that you will try to make it as well. It is easy, yummy and almost as good as a real one. Even my mother-in-law noted that it was very good.

Ingredients for a strudel for 6-8 people:

• 1 pack of phillo dough ( about 12 sheets)
• 1/4 cup of butter melted or vegetable oil
• 3 apples
• 1/4 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips ( ghiradhelli)
• brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of almond mill

1. Peel the apples and slice them in thin slices. Place them into a large bowl. Mix in the brown sugar and the almond mill and mix well. Set aside.
2. Roll out your roulpat, and place 2 phyllo leaves on it.
3.  Brush the layers with melted butter, or vegetable oil.
4. Place 2 more leaves on top and brush with butter again.
5. Repeat those steps until you have used at least 8 leaves.
6. Empty the apple mixtures on the buttered layers and spread them out leaving a 2 inches border on the right side.
7. And start folding the apple strudel starting from left side and folding it to about 3 inches in above the apples.
8. Continue folding until there is nothing to fold;-). Make sure the end piece is facing down.
9. Carefully lift the apple strudel from the roulpat and plate it onto a deep flexipan that you would have previously placed on a medium perforated sheet.
10. Brush the top of the strudel with butter and sprinkle with 2 tbsp sugar.
11. Repeat the entire procedure for the second strudel.
12. Bake the strudels at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until browned.

13.While the apple strudel is baking, prepare the “creme Anglaise” or cream:

Ingredients for 2 cups of Creme Anglaise:

• 2 cups half-and-half or whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half, scrape the vanilla seeds with a knife and  place them into the milk.
2. In a large saucepan, combine the half-and-half and vanilla bean and cook over moderately low heat just until small bubbles appear around the rim, about 5 minutes.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks just until combined.
4. Whisk in half of the hot half-and-half in a thin stream.
5. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Immediately strain the sauce into the bowl in the cold water bath to stop the cooking ( optional).
7.  Serve right away or refrigerate until chilled.
8. Drizzle the creme anglaise in each individual plates. Cut the apple strudel in 1 inch thick, and place each piece on each plate. serving on individual plates. Sprinkle some powdered sugar with the sugar dispenser and enjoy!
9. 

Bon Appetit and happy Cooking!!!