Ingredients

1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup rum (optional)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
14 sheets fresh or thawed frozen phyllo
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
Confectioners' sugar

Directions

Combine raisins and rum; set aside 10 minutes or longer.

Heat oven to 400 F. Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan. Combine granulated sugar, lemon rind and cinnamon; set aside.

Place phyllo sheets between two sheets of waxed paper, then cover with damp towel to prevent drying out. Remove one sheet of phyllo and brush completely with butter; repeat with 3 more sheets, layering them into a stack of 4. Press phyllo stack into bottom of pan, folding to fit; onto it place half of prepared apples, topped with half of raisin mixture and granulated sugar mixture; spread half the creme fraiche on top. Stack another 4 sheets of phyllo on top of fruit layer, buttering and folding each as before. Top with remaining apples, raisins, sugar mixture and creme fraiche. Stack another 4 sheets of buttered, folded phyllo on top.

To give the top of the strudel a ruffled effect, butter and stack 2 more sheets of phyllo; cut them into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips. Gently crumple each strip and place them randomly on top of strudel.

Bake strudel on bottom shelf of oven 25 to 30 minutes or until browned and bubbly. (If top begins to brown too much, cover loosely with aluminum foil.) Cool strudel; sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition information per serving: 519 cal., 5 g pro., 23 g fat, 65 g carbo., 4 g fiber, 297 mg sodium, 58 mg chol.