Phyllo Flodni
serves 6, adapted from my pal Julie's grandmother
1/2 cup (about 10) pitted prunes
1/2 cup apple juice, divided, plus another 3 TBSP
1 large lemon, cut into 8 wedges
4 oz poppy seeds
8 oz shelled, unsalted walnuts
4 TBSP natural cane sugar (evaporated cane juice), divided
1 Granny Smith apple
8 oz frozen phyllo sheets, thawed
1/4 cup melted nondairy butter or olive oil
Add the prunes and 1/4 cup apple juice to a small pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low, and keep at a steady simmer for 10 minutes, or until the prunes are very soft and the juice has reduced to a thin syrup. Carefully transfer pot contents to a quart jar, add 3 TBSP apple juice and the juice of 2 of the lemon wedges. Puree with an immersion blender. Set aside.
Grind the poppy seeds thoroughly in a coffee grinder (it's easiest to do it in two batches). Grind well, making sure you get a little clumping action to be sure you're releasing the oils. Transfer to a mixing bowl, stir in 1/4 cup apple juice, transfer to a food processor with 1 TBSP sugar and process for a total of 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed (every minute or so). Transfer back to the mixing bowl and set aside.
Wipe out processor bowl and grind the walnuts and 2 TBSP sugar finely. Set aside.
Peel and grate the apple into a bowl. Stir in 1 TBSP sugar.
Grease a 6-inch cake pan and preheat the oven to 350. Wet and wring out a clean kitchen towel to place over the phyllo to keep it from drying while it's not in use (i.e. while you're adding the filling layers to the pan).
Open the phyllo and use a pizza cutter to cut it into 6x6-inch squares (the rectangular stack is long enough so that you can cut two stacks of 6x6 squares--you should have no problem just cutting through the whole stack with the pizza cutter.) Have your liquid fat in a small bowl along with a brush.
Place one square in the bottom of the cake pan, brush it well with oil, and, working quickly, add another square. Repeat until you have laid five squares in the bottom (don't oil the top square), and cover your unused phyllo with the damp towel. Add half the walnut mixture to the pan, pressing it in evenly with your hands, squeeze the juice of a lemon wedge over the top, and add 3 squares of phyllo, brushing oil in between each layer. Press in half of the poppy mixture, squeeze a lemon wedge over it, repeat 3 phyllo squares, spread on all of the grated apple, squeeze on the lemon juice, and again with the 3 phyllo squares.
Repeat with the remaining nut and poppy layers, end with the pureed prunes, top that with 4 sheets of phyllo. Brush the top sheet thoroughly with oil.
Bake until golden and fragrant, 55-60 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting to allow the structure to solidify.
Traditional variation: omit the prune puree and double the apple mixture to use in its place.