Ingredients: (Organic preferred. Feel free to adjust ingredients, proportions and measurements to your taste & creativity.)
• One box of frozen, Organic Filo Dough (sold at Whole Foods and other health food stores)
• 10 small or 8 medium size apples—choose the crunchy & somewhat tangy types, such as Fuji, Honey Crisp, Jonagold, Gala, etc.
• Approx. 2/3 stick of butter (if preferred, canola, grape-seed or other oil appropriate for high temperature baking can be substituted or used in combination with the butter to lower the cholesterol content of this recipe)
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup dry cranberries or currants
• ¼ cup dry apricots (if available)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 whole eggs
• 1 & ½ cups of gluten-free, Finely Ground Organic Almond Flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill)
• ¼ teaspoon or more of powdered cinnamon
• Pinch of turmeric
• Pinch powdered ginger
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon liquid vanilla extract
Directions:
• Choose the size of a stainless steel or Pyrex-style glass (my preference) baking pan that best fits the size of cake you plan to bake.
• Unroll and lay out separately, on flat surfaces, 3 sets each of 5-6 Filo Dough sheets, carefully separated and reassembled to allow some air between the sheets so they don’t stick to each other. One set of Filo sheets to completely cover the bottom of the entire baking pan & the other 2 sets to cover he filling. (NOTE: Don’t worry if some of the Filo Dough breaks up as you work with it. Just layer them as densely as possible to look as if the sheets are whole, so they completely cover the bottom of the pan & each of the two, 1-&-a- half-inch thick layers of filling. Each set of Filo sheets that cover the filling should be well tucked in around the filling.)
• Soak raisins, cranberries, currants &-or dry apricots in bottled water.
• Melt the butter, but be careful to remove from heat well before it is hot enough to start smoking. (If you use oil, this does not apply.)
• Cover the baking pan’s bottom with a third or more of the melted butter and lay down your first batch of Filo Dough sheets on it. Set pan aside.
• Prepare the apples—i.e. wash them with Castile soap, dry, core and cut them up into approx. 2” chunks.
• Run the UNpeeled apple chunks through a food processor & pulp them to a coarse consistency. Transfer to large bowl.
• With a slotted spoon, remove the raisins & other dried fruit from the soaking water (or drain water through strainer) & add fruit to the bowl.
• Beat the eggs & add to bowl.
• Add the rest of the ingredients (almond flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, vanilla extract, lemon zest) & mix well.
• Spread first one layer of the mixture onto the bottom set of Filo Dough, then cover it with the second set of Filo Dough and spoon some of the melted butter on top of it.
• Repeat by spreading the rest of the mixture on top of the second set of Filo sheets; cover it with the third set of sheets & pour all the remaining melted butter evenly over the covering Filo Dough. If needed, crumble more butter over it.
• Bake at 380 degrees & bake for about one hour, or until the top Filo sheets are rosy. Turn off oven but leave cake in for another hour to cool slowly.
Enjoy!