Maggie Beer shares her Almond, Fruit Mince and Apple Log recipe with the Australian Carers Guide.

This Festive dessert is a winner, the baking pastry aroma and flavour combination is too good to resist!

Preparation 35 minutes

Cooking 60 minutes

Makes approx. 800g or 8-10 serves

Table of Contents

Ingredients

Almond frangipane

60g unsalted butter, softened

60g castor sugar

60g eggs, at room temperature

60g ground almonds

60g plain flour

APPLE

600g Granny Smith apples, peel, core & cut into rough 2cm pieces

2g lemon zest

8g lemon juice

25g brown sugar

45g castor sugar

60g melted butter

300g from a 410g jar of fruit mince, good quality or make your own

6 sheets of filo pastry

Icing Sugar

Cream, custard or ice cream to serve

Method

Preheat a fan forced oven to 210c and line an oven tray with parchment paper.

Almond frangipane – Place the softened butter and sugar into the bowl of a kitchen mixer, use the paddle attachment and beat of high for 5-8 minutes or until pale and aerated. Add the egg and beat, lastly fold in the almonds and flour, mix to combine, set aside.

Apple – Peel, core and cut the apples, place into a bowl with the lemon and sugars. Heat a large pot on the stove and add the apple mix, stir occasionally and cook on high for 8-10 minutes or until tender, but not falling apart, set aside to cool.

Assembly – Work on a pastry sheet or layer piece of parchment paper. Melt the butter, using a pastry brush, butter between each layer of pastry and layer up. With the long edge of the pastry towards you, spread the frangipane over the bottom 1/3 of pastry leaving 1.5 inches at either end.

Top with an even spread of fruit mince then the apple, butter up the sides and then fold in the ends and roll in 3 to create a log, place the sealed edge on the bottom and transfer to the prepared baking tray. Brush the entire surface with melted butter and dust a generous amount of icing sugar over.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden, reduce to 180c and continue baking for 25-35 minutes or until golden, the pastry is crisp and almond frangipane cooked through.

Remove from the oven and leave for 10 minutes before serving warm with cream, ice cream or custard.

For more recipes from Maggie Beer Foundation visit her website here.