United Cakedom: phyllo

Raspberries and orange are one of my favorite flavor combinations. Especially during the summer and especially during a cold and rainy summer like this one. In the winter when it's cold and rainy all I want are warm comforting foods. However, when it's the summer all I want are fresh comforting food that brings a little of the brightness missing from the days.

A lot of things I bake these days are inspired by something I've read or seen. These were just inspired by a craving. A craving, as I said above, to fill my day full of something fresh that would brighten the dreary day!

These were a bit on the tart side, so if you have a sweet tooth I would consider adding a little more sugar to the cream cheese to balance it out. Or add a sweet syrup or some ice cream or custard if you live in England to them. They are definitely better warm, in my opinion, but can be eaten cold!

Raspberry Strudels:

makes 3
about 100g frozen raspberries
12 filo (phyllo) pastry sheets
about 100g unsalted butter, melted
280g cream cheese, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar and zest of 1 orange

Heat oven to 200C and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Cover the pastry sheets with clingfilm and a damp towel. On a work surface lay the first sheet of pastry with the short side facing you, brush with the melted butter. Lay a second sheet on top and brush with butter before laying a third and fourth sheet on top. Gently spread 1/3 of the whipped cream cheese on top leaving a decent border around the edges. Then place a handful of the frozen raspberries in a couple of lines along the short end of the pastry. Fold the short end of the pastry nearest you up and then fold in the sides before rolling up. Lay seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat again until all the pastry sheets are used will make 3 in total. Use the leftover melted butter on the top and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each. Cut 2-3 slices into each as a vent before baking in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy warm with some ice cream!

How to roll:

*check out my recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Strudels!

*or check out my recipe for Orangey Orange Cupcakes with Raspberries

*or check out my recipe for Orange & Raspberry Muffins

The theme for this month’s Pastry Challenge was something that could be baked fairly quickly and with minimum fuss. It’s summer so usually it’s too hot to be heating up the oven to bake, but this last week has been pretty horrible actually.

 We needed the rain, the back yard/garden was brown and already after a few days of rain the grass is already turning green. As green is my favorite color I’m all for rain and green grass. Let’s just hope we get more sun soon!

I bought filo (phyllo) pastry without having a plan for it. It was an assumption that it would be a quick pastry to work with; an assumption proved right!

Not 100% sure when I decided to also use blueberries, but it was only a matter of time before the idea of adding cream cheese came about. The longest part of this recipes is the cooling of the blueberry mixture. Either make it before hand or buy blueberry pie filling.

These are actually pretty big as well so be sure you have people to share with, half was plenty for me!!

Blueberry Cheesecakes Strudels

360g fresh blueberries
60g sugar
2 tablespoons of corn flour
pinch of salt
12 filo (phyllo) pastry sheets
about 100g unsalted butter, melted
280g cream cheese, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar

In a medium saucepan boil the blueberries, sugar, corn flour, and salt until the berries have burst and it has thickened. Cool completely.
Heat oven to 205C and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Cover the pastry sheets with clingfilm and a damp towel. On a work surface lay the first sheet of pastry with the short side facing you, brush with the melted butter. Lay a second sheet on top and brush with butter before laying a third sheet on top. Gently spread 1/4 of the whipped cream cheese on top leaving a decent border around the edges. Then spread 1/4 of the cooled blueberry mixture on top. Fold the short end of the pastry nearest you up and then fold in the sides before rolling up. Lay seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat again until all the pastry sheets are used will make 4 in total. Use the leftover melted butter on the top and sprinkle a little sugar on top of each. Cut 2 slices into each as a vent before baking in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.