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Nothing says autumn is approaching more than the sight of apples dropping all over place before you’ve had a chance to pick them! And as the night start to draw in, there is no better way to snuggle down ready for chilly evenings than with a home-made hygge recipe for an apple pudding, smug in the satisfaction that you’ve rescued a few windfalls… it’s absolutely delicious with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or a glug of custard. If you’ve found a good haul of blackberries too, check out our famous fruit vinegar recipe here, or have a go at our hedgerow schnapps, the perfect make-ahead Christmas foodie gift!apple-cinnamon-and-hazlenut-strudel-hygge-203x300 Bex's autumn spiced apple, hazelnut and marzipan strudel

Ingredients

1 sheet of ready made puff pastry, room temperature

4 dessert apples (Granny Smith work very well in this recipe as they are pleasingly tart)

100g marzipan, chilled

75g hazelnuts or walnuts, roughly chopped

25g soft dark brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp plain flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

A squeeze of lemon juice

20g flaked almonds

Pearl sugar or granulated sugar to decorate

  1. Pop the marzipan in the fridge for an hour or so (or even better overnight); this helps to make grating it so much easier!
  2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and slide in a baking sheet to warm up (check the puff pastry will fit on the sheet first).
  3. Peel and core the apples. Slice thinly and place in a medium bowl, then add the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, giving everything a good stir.
  4. Roll out the puff pastry, and lay a second sheet of baking paper on your work surface.
  5. Sprinkle the flour over the apples and stir well.
  6. Working on the greaseproof sheet supplied with it, spread the mixture down the length of the pastry so it covers the central third; leave the last 2cms of the short ends free.
  7. Brush a little beaten egg on both short ends of the pastry and along the lower side.
  8. Fold the top third of the pastry over the mixture before bringing up the eggy bottom edge. Press gently along the long edge to seal.
  9. Using the packaging paper, carefully flip the strudel over onto the new clean sheet. Press along the short edges with a fork to seal them well, then brush your creation with beaten egg. 
  10.  Slash the top of the strudel with a sharp knife at 2cm intervals to allow steam to escape, then sprinkle the top with flaked almonds and a little pearl/granulated sugar.
  11. (Carefully!) take the hot baking sheet from the oven and slide the strudel on to it using the baking paper (preheating the sheet reduces the chance of the dreaded soggy bottom!).
  12. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the centre of the oven until golden brown.