Ingredients
Serves 6-8
8 sheets Antoniou Fillo Pastry
670g jar pitted Morello cherries
1 tablespoon cornflour
1/4 cup caster sugar
250g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup pure icing sugar, plus extra to serve
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
90g butter, melted
Method
Before you begin this Filo Pastry recipe, take your packet of Filo Pastry out of the fridge, still in its plastic bag and allow it to come up to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced. Line a large oven tray with non-stick baking paper.
Drain cherries, reserving juice. Set cherries aside.
Place cornflour in a small bowl and blend with 1 tablespoon of reserved cherry liquid. Set aside.
Combine caster sugar and 1/4 cup reserved cherry liquid in a medium saucepan (discard remaining cherry liquid). Stir over a medium heat until sugar dissolves, then simmer 3 minutes. Add drained cherries and cornflour mixture to saucepan, stir gently over medium heat until simmering. Simmer, stirring, for 1 minute or until very thick. Spread onto a plate and set aside to cool.
Place cream cheese, sifted icing sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg yolk and continue beating until just combined.
Combine brown sugar, breadcrumbs and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Layer Filo Pastry sheets, brushing melted butter in between each layer and sprinkling 2 tablespoons of breadcrumb mixture between every second layer. Brush the top layer with butter.
Spoon the cream cheese mixture along one long end of the fillo stack, leaving a 5cm border on 3 sides. Spoon the cherry mixture over the cream cheese filling.
Combine the remaining breadcrumb mixture with almonds, sprinkle over the filling. Fold in sides, then carefully roll into a log shape. Lift onto prepared tray, seam side down. Brush with remaining butter.
Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 180°C, bake for 10 minutes longer or until golden brown. Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.