Strudel

So, I have dedicated myself to learning how to make strudel--the real thing with actual strudelteig that you pull until it's so thin you can almost see through it.  The idea of being able to use that strudel dough to make sweet and savory strudels makes my mouth water....

But, before then, this recipe for Apricot Baklava Strudel called out to me from Sunset magazine.  I bought a handful of pistachios earlier in the week and a friend gave me a bag of apricots from her backyard tree--I figured this recipe was kismet!

Once I started getting everything assembled though, I realized that I didn't have the ground cardamom after all.  I had green and black cardamom pods, so I ended up splitting the green pods and grinding the cardamom up myself.  As my friend Hellen told me when she sampled some that afternoon, "You bake with love."

my miss en place, ready to assemble

the ground nuts, sugar, and cardamom

the finished product

Then, because I had plenty of the honey/sugar mixture leftover from macerating the apricots and half a package of phyllo dough, I decided to make a small cherry strudel, too.  Rather than using pistachios, I chopped up some almonds instead.

a little cherry peeking out....