BLACKBERRY AND PEAR STRUDEL

This is a lovely recipe that I use when pears, apples, plums and blackberries are in plentiful supply. You can use any combination of these, but blackberry and pear is my favourite. I like to serve the strudel warm, with thick clotted cream or homemade vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6

120g (4¼oz) unsalted butter ½tsp natural vanilla extract 3 ripe pears 1tsp grated orange zest Juice of half a lemon 100g (3½oz) blackberries 60g (2¼oz) sultanas 50g (1¾oz) flaked almonds, toasted 120g (4¼oz) caster sugar 5 sheets of filo pastry 120g (4¼oz) fresh white breadcrumbs Icing sugar, for dusting

Heat your oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Line a baking tray with parchment. Gently melt 100g of the butter with the vanilla extract. Peel, core and dice the pears. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan, add the pears and sauté for 2-3 minutes to soften, then drain. Tip the pears into a bowl, leave to cool, then toss with the orange zest, lemon juice, blackberries, sultanas, flaked almonds and sugar.

Lay a sheet of filo on a clean tea towel on a work surface. Brush with some of the vanilla-butter mixture and sprinkle with a fifth of the breadcrumbs. Repeat these layers until you have used all the filo pastry and crumbs, saving a little butter to finish.

Place the fruit filling along a short edge of filo, leaving a 5cm clear border. Fold in the long sides and then gently roll up the strudel from the short edge, using the tea towel to help. Place seam side down on the baking tray and brush with butter. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Leave to cool slightly, then dust with icing sugar to serve. All copy extracted from How To Bake by Paul Hollywood, Bloomsbury, €29.