Apple and Cinnamon Strudel

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• clove
• 50 g light brown sugar
• 1 apple, peeled and chopped)
• 5 filo pastries
• 50 g raisin
• low-calorie oil spray (sunflower recommended)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C / gas 6) and line a baking tray with parchment. A hot oven is non-negotiable here — filo needs the blast to blister and shatter rather than go leathery.
2. Tip the chopped apple and raisins into a roomy bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, stir together the cinnamon, ground cloves, cornflour, brown sugar and a pinch of fine salt until evenly mixed. The salt is small but mighty — it sharpens the cinnamon and stops the sugar tasting flat.
4. Scatter the spiced sugar over the fruit and toss for a minute or so until every piece glistens with a sticky coating. Taste a sliver of apple — it should be sweet, warm with spice, and just edged with salt. Adjust now if it tastes one-note.
5. Lay a sheet of filo flat on your work surface and mist it generously with oil spray, brushing it out so the whole sheet has a faint sheen. Work briskly — filo dries to dust the moment it sees air, so keep the rest of the stack under a clean tea towel.
6. Stack the next sheet on top, mist again, and repeat until all five sheets are layered. If the sheets feel small, overlap two side by side to give yourself a wider canvas.
7. Spoon the apple filling along the centre in a long, neat line, leaving a 4 cm border at each end. Don't be tempted to overfill — too much fruit and the parcel weeps and tears.
8. Lightly brush the edges with water, fold the short ends up over the filling, then fold the long sides in to wrap it into a tight parcel. The water acts as glue; press the seams firmly so they don't spring open in the oven.
9. Flip the strudel seam-side down onto the lined tray and give the top a final mist of oil. Score three shallow diagonal slashes across the top — they vent the steam and stop the pastry from going soggy underneath.
10. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the pastry is deeply golden, blistered and shatteringly crisp, and you can hear the filling bubbling inside. If it's browning fast at 20 minutes, drop the oven to 180°C fan and carry on.
11. Rest for 5 minutes before slicing — the filling is molten straight from the oven and needs a moment to settle, or it'll run out in a rush.
12. Dust the strudel heavily with icing sugar, slice into thick wedges, and serve each piece with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream or a pour of cold cream alongside.