Cheese and cherries strudel

Sweet cheese and cherry filling wrapped in flaky dough and dusted in powdered sugar - perfection

Cheese and cherries again?? Yes, and again and again and again, I'll never get tired of this combo. Well, I made an apple strudel from my sad apples but I only had enough apples for one strudel. In average phyllo dough package you have enough sheets to make 3 strudels, so I had to find out what to make with the rest of the dough. Naturally, I thought of cheese (my favorite), so I always have it in the house. I also happened to have frozen cherries, so the choice was made.

Now, who is going to enjoy it? Lucky enough for me, I was on my way to my hygienist appointment when I was baking the strudels, so I took one with me to share with the staff at my dentist clinic and the second one was shared between painters that happened to work on the exterior of our house. Quick fix that made so many people happy. That is what food should be all about.

Ingredients

For the filling

450 gr/16 oz cream cheese at room temperature

100 ml sour cream

1 egg

1 egg yolks

⅔ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoon vanilla pudding

Zest from ½ lemon

½ cup pitted cherries with one tablespoon sugar

For the strudel

6 phyllo dough sheets

100 gr melted butter

¼ cup almond/cookie crumbs/plain bread crumbs.

Instructions

Make the filling

Mix the cherries with 1 tablespoon sugar and set aside for 30 min, mixing it occasionally

Mix the rest of the ingredients together until smooth

Assemble the strudel

Preheat the oven to 190°c

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and place one sheet of phyllo dough on top of it. Brush the sheet with melted butter. Repeat for a total of 6 sheets.

Don't butter the top layer, instead, spread it with the crumbs.

Place the filling close to the bottom of the dough, lengthwise.

Fold the edges of the filling with both sides of the dough, then fold the bottom of the dough on top of the filling, lengthwise.

Roll everything together, making sure to finish with the end tucked under the strudel

Brush the dough with butter and slice to serving portions, almost all the way through.

Bake for 15-20 min until golden 3

Let cool, for few min and dust with powdered sugar

Enjoy!