A very simple apple strudel a la Mary Monica

This was a bit of a staple for the Sunday dinner (or should I say lunch?) of my childhood. Made with the cooking apples or the eaters of our orchard. So really, it's an autumn special.

This is my mother's recipe. She made it with one hand during the Archer's Omnibus if the memory serves me correctly. With the other she gave me a thick ear.

You need 270g of frozen puff pastry (thawed). Yes, you can make your own, but I do think that shop bought is perfectly good.
15g of unsalted butter
For the filling, 720g of cooking or eating apples, peeled and sliced. It seems a lot, but it needs to be generous because they cook down considerably. You'll see.
60g caster sugar (for eating apples; triple this if you are using cookers)
60g of sultanas
1 level teaspoon of cinnamon.

Roll out your pastry to about 60 cm square.Spread the apple slices over about two thirds of the pastry, then roll up the pastry from the end covered with apples onto a baking tray. Sprinkle everything with the sugar and the cinnamon. Pinch the joins together. It will look like a big fat sausage. Put the bit with the seam underneath. My mother used to shape this into a horseshoe shape. Melt the butter and, using a pastry brush, brush the top gently with butter and add a further sprinkling of cinnamon, if you like. You can also put some thin little slits in the top of the pastry. The juices from the apple will bubble up prettily if you do this. Use a very sharp and nimble knife so that you get it in one go! I also recall that occasionally --and my mother was not a lover of garnishes-- this was decorated with pastry flowers from the scraps of pastry put to one side for the purpose. Try it.

Bake in a medium hot oven for about thirty minutes. Serve it piping hot with a little cream or a good, old fashioned custard.