Cherry Strudel

I had extra cherries from the cherry pie. Good stuff must never go to waste so I decided to use them for another recipe: strudel. They tasted absolutely heavenly. I now wished I kept more for myself - but for the sake of my girth, I must refrain. The ruby red cherries work so well with the creamy whiteness of the strudel filling. My first strudel was when I was in Perth couple of years ago. A friend was kind enough to insist. I must thank her persistence for my first taste of heaven.

Have you been to Perth, Western Australia? If you haven't, try googling: Corica. The apple strudel is to absolutely die for.

When I was traveling around Hong Kong with Mom, we met another Malaysian who had been living in Perth for a long time. She divulged an alternative close to the heavenly strudel. Close, but you must try the real deal if you're in the neighborhood. Promise?Cherry Strudel (serves 4)
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• 1 puff pastry sheet
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 200ml thickened cream
• 1 cup cherries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• brown sugar to sprinkle

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Cut the puff pastry into half.
3. Brush some egg yolk on it.
4. Sprinkle some brown sugar and place it in the oven for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden and fluffy.
5. Set aside and let it cool.
6. Mix cherries, caster sugar, flour and cinnamon together.
7. Whip cream until light and fluffy.
8. Assemble strudel together first by putting cream on one pastry, then the cherry mixture and finally top it with the second pastry sheet.
9. Decorate with lots and lots and lots of icing sugar. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.