1. The night before add the raisins and rum to a small bowl, cover, and let sit overnight on the counter, so the raisins can soak up the rum.

2. For the vanilla sauce add about 1/4 cup (60ml) of the milk to a small bowl and set aside. Add the remaining milk together with the sugar and salt to a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean pod lengthwise and remove the seeds. Add both to the milk and heat up on the stove. Let the vanilla bean pod soak in the warm milk for about 10 minutes – the milk should be just warm, not hot or boiling.

3. Mix the milk you kept on the side with the cornstarch and the egg yolk. Bring the milk in the saucepan on the stove to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir in. Let the vanilla sauce thicken and bubble for a moment, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, take out the vanilla bean pod, and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the sauce to prevent the sauce from getting a skin. Let cool down completely.

4. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside. Peel, core, and dice the apples. Add to a bowl and drizzle with lemon juice. Add the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, crushed cookies, sliced almonds, and rum-soaked raisins – mix until well combined and set aside.

5. Place the first sheet of phyllo dough on the prepared baking parchment. Brush with some melted butter, then place a second sheet on top. To get a larger surface for the strudel you should place the sheets slightly shifted on top of each other. Continue with the rest of the phyllo dough sheets and the melted butter to create one big layer. Place the apple filling along one of the longer sides of the phyllo dough rectangle, then roll the dough up (tight) from that side to enclose the filling. Make sure the seam of the strudel is facing down. Brush with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with some coarse brown sugar. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the top of the strudel is golden brown. Take out of the oven and let cool down. You can serve the strudel slightly warm or at room temperature with the vanilla sauce.