Black Currant Strudel

The kids and hubby bugged me to satisfy their sweet tooth last night so I decided to make them a black currant strudel. I began by making a rich egg, butter and yeast pastry dough. It was very soft and easy to work with. I kneaded it for about 15 minutes and then allowed the dough to rise until doubled. I divided it, punched it down and rolled the two pieces out in to large rectangles. I then slathered some very good quality black currant jelly down the center of each rectangle leaving ample space on the top and sides to braid the dough. I then added a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling over the top of the jelly. I cut the sides of the dough where there was no filling in to strips and layered the strips, one on top of the other to create a braided look and tucked in the ends. I brushed each strudel with a light coating of heavy cream and sprinkled coarse sugar over the top. I baked them for about 35 minutes on parchment paper and then took them out of the oven bubbling, oozing, flaky and golden brown. We enjoyed them with fresh ground and brewed coffee last night after dinner. The tart black currant jelly was a perfect foil for the rich and buttery cream cheese filling.