Our supper night recipe for sour cherry & walnut strudel with almond cream

A simple dish to make, and a definite crowd pleaser. You could swap out the walnuts for ground almonds (or omit the nuts altogether), and change the cherry for any other fruits you like...just make sure the fruit goes in frozen, so that you're not left with a soggy wet mess of pastry.

Ingredients - strudel:

350g frozen dark cherries (pitted)

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

5 sheets filo pastry

40g melted butter

Large handful of group walnuts

- serves 7 -

Method - strudel:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200c

2. Line a baking sheet with baking baking.

3. In to a large bowl add the frozen cherries, caster sugar, vanilla essence, and lemon zest.

4. On a clean work surface, layer the filo sheets, brushing all over except for the last one, with the melted butter. When you get to the last sheet, just brush around the edges with the butter.

5. Spoon the cherry filling down the centre on a narrow strip (about a third of the width of the sheet).

6. Sprinkle over a handful of ground walnuts.

7. Fold in the ends of the pastry and then, fold down the top, brush the edge with a little more butter to help stick the final fold to - and fold up the bottom so that you have a nice long parcel.

8. Transfer to the lined baking sheet, with the pastry seam underneath.

9. Make some small slashes across the top of the pastry, then brush with the last of the butter. 10. Bake for ten minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C/gas 4 and continue to bake for a further thirty minutes until crisp and golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes before cutting into slices.

11. Serve warm or cold, with a nice dollop of almond cream.

Ingredients - almond cream

7 dessert spoons mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons almond essence

1 tablespoon caster sugar

- serves 7 -

Method - almond cream:

1. Mix together the mascarpone cheese, almond essence, and caster sugar then store in the fridge until ready to serve.