Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare a half sheet baking pan with silpat or a sheet of parchment. Set aside.

Combine the raisins and brandy in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Bring to a simmer and turn off the heat and cover to allow the raisins to plump up. Set aside.

Heat a small pan over medium heat and add the one tbsp of butter. Heat until melted. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for a few minutes until lightly toasted and fragrant. Set aside.

Peel and core 3 of the gala apples, Quarter the apples and cut 1/4" thick slices. Combine the apple slices in a bowl with the soaked raisins, breadcrumbs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss to combine. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry to a 12"x14" rectangle. If the pastry gets too soft, refrigerate until firm. Arrange the apples in the center of the pastry. Fold the short end to cover the apples in the center then do the same with the bottom half (like an envelope). Swiftly turn the strudel over to have the seam side down on the baking sheet. Fold and tuck the ends under the strudel. Refrigerate.

To create the braid, cut 9 strips of half inch wide puff pastry. Press the ends of three strips together and start your braid from there. Create three braids and drape them one in the middle of the strudel and two at each end of the strudel. Tuck the ends under the strudel.

Slice 4 diagonal slits on the strudel and refrigerate again.

To create the apple roses, take the last unpeeled apple cut it into quarters. Remove the core and slice the slices very thinly with a sharp knife or on a mandoline. Toss the apple slices with the simple syrup and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and cover for 5 minutes. You can the slices to be soft enough where it won't break when you try to create roses out of it. Once soft, carefully create roses with the thinly slices apples. Push them gently into the slits you've created earlier.

Brush the strudel with the one tbsp of melted butter. Dust it with the one tbsp of granulated sugar and bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Serve the strudel warm with a light dusting of powdered sugar.