My favourite dish: Stéphane Reynaud's apple filo parcel recipe

“This recipe means a lot to me,” says the French chef and food writer, Stéphane Reynaud. “The very first time I ate this dish, with a big group of my friends in the southwest of France, it was brought out at the end of the meal. One of my friends, who was a little tipsy, poured some alcohol over the top of the parcel and set it alight, the flames dancing all over the pastry – and the table! It became a standing joke between us, and so when I put this recipe in my book it was like a little 'hello’ to my friends. It is now a favourite at home – but we’re more careful with the brandy!”

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Serves six

6 apples, such as royal galas

150g (5½ oz) unsalted butter

200g (7 oz) caster (very fine) sugar

100g (3½ oz) flaked almonds

3 tsp cinnamon

200ml (7 fl oz) Armagnac brandy

8 sheets filo pastry

To make the apple filling, peel the apples and cut them into segments. Melt 100g (3½ oz) of the butter in a non-stick frying pan, add the apples and 150g (5½ oz) of the sugar and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, turning the apples regularly. Add the flaked almonds, cinnamon and 150ml (5fl oz) of the brandy. Reduce until the mixture is dry.

Melt the remaining butter in a small pan. Lay one sheet of filo pastry on the work surface, brush with the butter and sprinkle over a little of the remaining sugar. Cover with a second sheet of pastry at a 45 degree angle to the first, and brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar in the same way. Repeat the process, using all the sheets of filo to form a rosette.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4. Arrange the layered filo sheets in a 20cm (8in) springform cake tin, so that the sheets hang over the edges. Place the apple mixture in the middle and fold in the corners of each of the sheets, crumpling them at the same time. Bake for 20 minutes.

Heat the remaining Armagnac in a saucepan, flambé and pour over the pastry when serving, while the dessert is still hot.

'Pies and Tarts’ by Stéphane Reynaud, is published by Murdoch Books (£20)