Greendale Christmas Strudel

Preheat the oven to 180⁰C (Gas Mark 6) and grease a baking tray with butter. Put the mincemeat in a large mixing bowl, then add the marzipan, almonds, sugar and mixed spice and stir to combine. Add the prepared apples to the bowl, together with the lemon zest and juice, and mix well. Next, melt about a tablespoon of the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat, then tip in the breadcrumbs and fry until golden. Add the crumbs to the mincemeat mixture.
Place a small pan over a low heat and melt the remaining butter. Cut a sheet of baking paper larger than the pastry sheets (or use a clean, dry tea towel) and lay one sheet of the filo pastry on it. Brush the pastry all over with melted butter, then lay another pastry sheet directly on top and repeat the butter brushing – keep going until you have brushed all four filo sheets. Take the mincemeat filling and spoon it down the centre of the pastry, leaving a 2-3cm border at each of the short ends. To roll up the strudel, fold the short ends of pastry in over the filling, then fold in one of the long sides and roll it up and over, using the parchment/tea towel to help you (like making a swiss roll). Use any remaining butter to brush the top of the strudel, then bake for 20-30 minutes, or until crisp and golden. Let the cooked strudel cool, then dust the top with icing sugar and serve with a few scoops of your favourite ice cream.