Apple phyllo pie with pecans and maple
I have been dying to make a crispy ‘Moroccan’ style phyllo pie like this for ages, and you can go in either a savoury or sweet direction with it. I opted for the latter. I love the combination of apple with pecans and maple, and next time I may be a bit more generous with the syrup and drench it – baklava style.
Regardless, this method really does take the stress out of using phyllo pastry (if you have any), as you simply roll the filling up into four rolls and then tightly pack them into each other in a greased cake tin. Very pretty looking too.
A few pointers on using phyllo:
- work very quickly as the pastry dries out
- have all the elements ready before you start working with the pastry
- dampen a tea towel and cover the pastry that you are not using
- clear a space to do the rolling
Phyllo is very forgiving. If you tear a bit you just keep on rolling and the tear will get covered in another layer.
I have also buttered the inside of each sheet and scattered it with brown sugar so that when you roll them up, this keeps the layers a little separated and adds a nice crunch.
Apple phyllo pie with pecans and maple
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 x phyllo pastry sheets
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 3 star anise pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 cup raisins I used a mixture of sultanas and raisins
- 3 slightly heaped cups of cut up apple peeled, cored, and cut into smallish cubes - I used Red Cripps which are sweet and tart
- 1/2 a cup of roughly chopped toasted pecan nuts + a few extra for decoration
- 1/2 tsp - 1t cinnamon powder optional if you like cinnamon flavour
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup + 1/4 of a cup for drizzling
- +-80g butter melted in a small dish - in the microwave
- +-1/4 cup of brown sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Add the sugar, star anise, cinnamon stick and raisins to a pot with 2 cups of water and bring this to the boil. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes so that the raisins plump up and re hydrate.
- Add the cut up apples to the boiling sugar syrup and boil for about 8 - 10 minutes. Strain and remove the cinnamon and star anise. Allow this to cool slightly.
- Pre - heat your oven to 180 C / 350 F
- Spray a 22 - 26cm cake tin (or any appropriate size pie dish) with cooking spray or butter.
- Add the chopped pecan nuts and 2 T of maple syrup to the cooled mixture *You can dry fry the whole nuts in a non stick frying pan until they are toasted and golden, or roast them in the oven. Add your cinnamon powder if you are using it.
- Melt the butter in the microwave and have the pastry brush ready.
- Working with one pastry sheet at a time, place a 1/4 of the apple mixture on the bottom edge of the pastry. Brush the rest of the sheet lightly with melted butter, trying to cover as much of the surface area as possible. Sprinkle over about 1 tablespoon of the brown sugar over the buttered sheet. Roll the pastry log up starting from the filling end, rolling over the sugared buttered phyllo. Tuck the edges in as you roll so that the filling doesn't come out.
- Place the rolls snuggly in the cake tin and brush each log with butter over the top. It doesn't matter if the middle roll breaks as you try to bend it, just patch it up with a few small pieces of phyllo.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and whilst hot, drizzle over 1/4 of a cup of maple syrup. Scatter over extra chopped nuts and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
*This post has been sponsored by Mediterranean Delicacies. You can keep up to date with all their delicious products on their Facebook page.
A few of my other phyllo recipes can be found here:
mushroom and parmesan phyllo pies
Christmas pudding strudel with chocolate
I look forward to connecting with you again
Visit my Drizzle and Dip Facebook page to get updates of all my posts.
I can also be found enthusiastically pinning beautiful food images on Pinterest.
This serpent cake phyllo pastry idea is stunning!
How much would you charge Sam to prepare and style pics for a cookery book? Say about 20? I am hoping to
perhaps do an apple cookery book for New Zealand but cannot imagine anything as stunning as your photos!
I have done most of the recipes – actaully will be very straightforward for you – but nothing final yet with the sponsors.
Kind regards
Carolie
Hi Carolie, Im going to contact you directly to discuss this.
Thanks
Sam
Hi – would have been nice to see step by step pics of you putting this together 🙂
Oh My Sam this looks fantastic!!
Oh my word, this actually looks like heaven!!
Thanks Usha, next time Im adding more syrup 🙂
You are so clever. This looks wonderful. I have always had trouble with phyllo being too dry and have given it up as a bad job. I think the trick must be finding the right one.
Wow Sam this looks stunning, Have saved for my next baking spree. BTW tried your Tomato stuffed Peppers last night (mine without anchovies LOL), and they were A~maaaazing…. thanks Mills 😉
Obsessed with your website- such a divine post!!!!! xxx
Thanks Tanja 🙂
Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. I love the photos… and your blog. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the kind words Lauren 🙂
Your apple phyllo pie is stunning, what a wonderful centerpiece would this make for a dinner party or family gathering!
Thanks Gourmantine, I find anything with phyllo tends to have the X factor 🙂
Made your apple pie-did not quite look as good as yours but went down very well.Do you think I can make the pie and freeze to boke when needed?Thanks,Muriel.
Can I freeza the apple pie before baking?
HI Muriel, I am sure it will be fine although I have not tried this. Phyllo does freeze quite well. Just thaw completely and brush with butter before baking.
This looks wonderful! I’m just about to make it, but have one question : are you rolling it from the long or short edge?
Thanks!
Hi Rosemary, I roll from the short end as its easier to manage.
I just made it for a pot luck tomorrow morning. How do I prevent it from getting soggy? Turned out great but worried about it. Do I refrigerate it?
Hi Carrie, refrigerating it will make it go soft. The best way to keep pastry crispy is to keep in a closed oven over night. Thereafter in a seed container or the fridge. I would suggest reheating it just before serving and adding the final syrup just before serving when it is hot.
Thank you for sharing this! I had some left over phyllo and didn’t want to use the last of our apples from picking a few weeks ago in yet another pie.
In the oven now and am excited to eat!
This recipe might be worth while to make but the print is small and light in color rendering any reading impossible if you have “older eyes”. Also here is no image clearly showing the interior of the finished product. Why is the slice of “pie” pointing away?
Yes, I know I can use keyboard keys to enlarge the text but there is nothing to increase the contrast.
Hi Emergork, I was sorry to read that my blog layout and food styling didnt meet with your expectations. My suggestion is if you dont like what you see here – why dont you simply click away to another food site (and let me tell you there are millions out there) – and find a recipe with font size and food styling that better meets your needs. All this work that I put up on Drizzle and Dip is 100% free of charge for anyone to enjoy and use. I have over 900 recipes which I have gifted to anyone interested in reading them / using them over the last 7.5 odd years.
Best Sam
The problem is that this impossible-to-read technique is rampant. Even the ADA web site is ripe with it.
I guess that when others speak up here than you will make the corrections, especially for font color.
My web sites don’t subject my readers to that kind of treatment.
Actually you are the fist person to complain about my foodstyling and my font size and colour in the 8 years I have written this blog. As I said, I do this all for free so really just click away and find something that better suits you instead of insulting my creativity. My font colour is one notch below black – so really it is very dark. AS for size and if readability is an issue – one could always copy and paste into a word document and increase accordingly.
This pic sits so proudly on my screen – it is not only one of the most beautiful serpent cakes ever but also one of the most delicious variations ever made! Just love it and look at it often!
Aaah Thanks Carolie, Im so glad you like it. Its also such a favourite of mine x
@Emerogork You can just copy and paste the recipe into a text editor or a word processor like Microsoft Word. Then you can change the font however you want in order to be able to read the recipe.
Hi there!
Wondering if I can freeze this in advance and then thaw and bake before an event?
Thank you!
Susan
Hi Susan, I suspect phyllo doesn’t perform at its best when worked like this, and have never tried making anything in phyllo in advance. But I’m sure if you brush it well with butter it will crisp up. Just ensure its completely covered in the freezer. I know you can freeze unbaked spanokopita so this might work.
Thanks
Sam