Open Vanilla Strudel with Prunes Recipe

Set oven rack to bottom third; preheat oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange 2 sheets of pastry overlapping each other. Brush with the melted butter. Add another two sheets also overlapping and brush with butter. Continue in this way until all the pastry sheets have been used. Turn over the edges of the pastry sheets to form a rim about 2 cm thick and brush with the remaining butter.

Stir together the ricotta, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, pudding powder, lemon juice and zest until smooth. Spread the mixture over the strudel pastry, leaving the edges free. Sprinkle top with sliced prunes.

Bake the strudel for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are golden. Dust with powdered sugar to serve.

Tip: How to make your own strudel pastry: Mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, ½ cup lukewarm water, 1 tbsp butter and 1 egg into a smooth dough. Dust with flour and wrap in cling film and then allow to rest for about 1 hour. Dust a large tea towel thinly with flour. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible into a square shape (approx. 50 x 50 cm), cut the dough into quarters. Melt 80 g butter. On the baking tray, pull out one quarter of the dough with your hands (approx. 9 x 13 -inches) and brush with butter. Do the same with the other quarters of the dough and lay on top of each other. Roll up the edges about 2-3 cm and finally brush with butter.