Walnut Strudel

Ingredients

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it reaches boiling point.  Remove from heat. Place walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, citrus juices, zest and rum into bowl of the food processor.  Pour in hot milk and process, turning on and off until mixture is grainy.  Don’t allow it to become mushy – it should retain some of the nutty texture. Remove from food processor to another bowl and stir through the sultanas or cranberries. To Make the Strudels: Preheat oven to 220degC (200degC Fan Forced). You will need 6 –  8 sheets filo pastry for each strudel.  Remove filo from packet. Keep the pastry sheets covered with a teatowel to prevent them drying out and work quickly with one sheet at a time. Remove one sheet and liberally brush with melted butter.  Repeat with another 7 sheets of pastry, brushing each one with butter.  Stack one on top of the other. Spoon walnut filling along one end, roll up and brush outside sheet with butter. Bake in preheated oven for ten minutes; reduce heat to 200degC (180degC fan-forced) and bake for a further 15 – 20 minutes or until strudel is golden and flaky.  Check occasionally to make sure it doesn’t burn. Remove from oven, allow to cool, dust with icing sugar and cinnamon.  Good served with cream and/or ice cream. Makes 2 strudels. Note: there are 20 filo sheets in a packet.