Rosemary & Apple Strudel

A delicate blend of sweet and savory in flaky puff pastry.

Apples, fresh rosemary, apple butter cream, and caramel sauce...what's not to like?

Apples and rosemary are a wonderful combo and I wanted to make something sweet so...I decided to have some fun. This delicious pastry is very easy to make and extremely delicious. It requires very few ingredients, and you can make alterations that suite your taste very quickly.

Rosemary & Apple Strudel

Ingredients

Serving Size: 2

• 2 sheets of puff pastry (9.75” X 10.5” X 3/16)

• 4 honeycrisp apples

• 1/2 C sugar

• 4 Tbsp butter

• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

• 3 Tbsp cream cheese

• A pinch of salt

• A pinch of ginger powder

• 2 2/3 Tbsp water

• 3 Tbsp heavy cream

• 2 Tbsp sugar

• 2 Tbsp of flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remove the skin from all 5 apples. Separate 1 apple, dice it, and add to a pan with 1 tbsp of butter and a pinch of salt. Sauté on medium-low heat for about 7-8 minutes. Stirring occasionally. After 8 minutes, remove from the pan and pour the apples into a food processor. Add the 3 Tbsp of cream cheese and 2 Tbsp of sugar and blend until you get a smooth apple cream cheese. (You can also use an emersion blender if you prefer.) Adding some melted butter will help it emulsify if it seems like it's not smoothing out properly.

3. Add 3 Tbsp of butter to a pan on medium-low heat along with your two sprigs of fresh rosemary. Stir occasionally to make sure the butter absorbs that flavor. Cook for about 5 minutes then remove the rosemary.

4. Dice the rest of your apples, after removing the core, and add to the rosemary butter along with 1/4 C sugar and a pinch of salt. Sauté for about 5 minutes then remove from heat. We want the apples mildly cooked but still to have some bite to them.

5. Take your puff pastry and place it on a lightly flowered surface, this is what the 2 Tbsp of flour is for. Unfold your puff pastry and cut diagonally along the sides, add half of your apple mixture and some of the apple cream cheese mixture to the center portion of the pastry, vertically creating a thick line from top to bottom. Then fold your slices over each other, creating a tight braid. See the image below for an example of how to cut the pastry.

6. Place strudels on a baking sheet. Apply a simple egg wash to the tops of the strudels. Sprinkle the tops with sugar and bake in your 400-degree oven for 20-22 minutes. (The only reason my pastry is lighter is because this was for my mom on her birthday and she prefers her crust to be light like this haha, I would recommend using the egg wash normally.)

7. To make the caramel, add 1/2 C sugar to a sauce pot along with 2 2/3 Tbsp of water. Turn to heat to medium-high and don't stir the caramel, just let it melt and change color. Once it changes to an amber color add a pinch of salt and 3 Tbsp of heavy cream, swirl it around the pan until it mixes together by moving the pan around. It's a simple caramel sauce that goes great over the top of the strudel. If you are nervous about making a caramel sauce, you can always buy a bottle and use that instead. I recommend trying to make it yourself because it's a really great technique to learn.

8. Enjoy everyone!