How to make Apple Strudel from scratch

AuthorLauren MelaneyCategoryCakesDifficultyBeginner

Did you know that the classic strudel was not always made from apples? The name of the dish itself came from the German language (it means “vortex”, “funnel”), and the recipe is from Austria-Hungary. As for the filling, here, as they say, there are a lot of possible options. Of course, most often prepared strudel is prepared with apples. A less popular variety is cherries. However, the very first known recipe for strudel (1696!), which is stored in the Vienna City Library, implies the use of milk-cream filling. Exactly how this delicacy was supposed to be prepared, we do not know for sure. But today we can offer readers a repeatedly proven recipe for classic apple strudel. Follow the detailed instructions and you will succeed!

Step-by-Step Cooking Recipe

• The preparation of this dough is elementary, this is just the case when everything is mixed and kneaded. If you have an assistant in the form of a bread maker, a dough mixer or a mixer with a nozzle for kneading bread, then the easiest way to do this is with the help of technology.
• If you don’t have these kitchen utensils, then sift the flour, make a deepening in the middle, add an egg into it, pour in water, lemon juice and vegetable oil and knead a fairly tight dough. It will seem to you that there is too much flour and the dough is dry, but you need to mix everything, then everything will turn into a dough that does not stick to your hands.
• As soon as you have kneaded the dough, you need to beat it off. This part cannot be skipped, because it depends on how well your dough will stretch later. And so, we take all our dough and throw it on the table from the height of the raised hand. We beat it off like this until the dough becomes elastic and stretchy, we recommend beating it off for about 7 minutes.
• After you have beaten off the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preparing The Filling

• Chop the nuts with a knife. They will give the taste and texture to the strudel.
• Apples need to be peeled and cored and finely chopped, Cut into cubes of about 0.3 * 0.3 inches. You can cut it into thin slices, it does not matter. Pour lemon juice over the sliced apples.
• Mix sugar with cinnamon.
• Grind crackers into crumbs. If there are no crackers, you can take any muffin.

Assembling Strudel

• Remove the cooled and rested dough from the refrigerator, divide it into two parts.
• Roll out 1 part on the table to a size of about 12 * 12 inches. Take an towel of at least 15 * 20’’ in size, sprinkle it with flour and transfer the rolled dough onto it.
• And now comes the most crucial stage, which many are afraid of, but if you beat the dough well, then everything will be fine.
• Carefully, starting from the middle, begin to stretch the dough to the edges along the perimeter. Run your palm downwards approximately under the middle of the dough layer and, as you reach it, pull the dough first to one corner, then to the other, and so on, then I begin to stretch the edges and corners. It is necessary to stretch to a size of 15 * 20’’.
• After you have finished stretching the dough, we take 1 oz of butter, heat it a little and evenly grease our entire dough layer with a brush. Next, sprinkle 1/2 sugar with cinnamon, 1.7 oz of breadcrumbs, 1/2 part of raisins, 1/2 part of nuts, and 1/2 part of apples, evenly distributing over the entire length, leaving about 4 inches at the end.
• Now take your towel and carefully roll it into a roll, after the first turn, it is necessary to turn up the sides, and then make a roll until the end, the seam of the strudel must necessarily be from below!
• Transfer the strudel to a baking sheet with a towel, so it won’t tear.
• Do the same with the second part of the dough and the filling.
• Bake the strudel for 45 minutes at 400 F, if you see that the strudel is starting to burn in the oven, and the time has not yet come, then cover it with foil on top.

Pro Tips

• The dough should be prepared quickly: first mix with a spoon, then knead thoroughly with your hands.
• You can add a little rum or cognac to the apple filling for a classic strudel. This will give it a special flavor and a more expressive taste. Traditionally, strudel is served on the table with fruit or ice cream
• This classic strudel is best suited to the eiswein from riesling from the Danube Valley (Kamptal, Kremstal), a rare, very fresh and fragrant wine from frozen grapes.

How do I serve apple strudel?

Strudel is delicious both cold and warm. The classic serving is a piece of warm strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup, I just rubbed the chocolate on top. Serve with tea or weak coffee.

FAQ

Where does apple strudel come from?

We used to think of apple strudel as a truly Austrian dessert, but the roots of the history of apple strudel go back to the East. Turkish cooks wrapped nuts, honey, raisins and other fillings in the thinnest layers of dough, calling this dessert baklava. Historians believe that the strudel in its original Turkish version came to Vienna along with coffee from the Ottoman Empire during the reign of the Habsburg dynasty.

What type of pastry is used for strudel?

Over the centuries of its existence (the very first known recipe dates back to 1696), strudel has gained worldwide popularity, and with it changed the ways of preparing dough and filling. In every corner of the world, pastry-cooks prepare strudel in their own way. So which strudel dough is better?

Stretched dough. Austrian, Hungarian and Czech strudel is traditionally made from elastic dough consisting of flour with high gluten content, water, vegetable oil and salt without adding sugar. The dough is stretched by hands into the thinnest layer. Purists say: the dough for strudel should be so thin that you can read a newspaper through it. It is not always possible to achieve such a result at home due to a lack of experience.
Puff pastry. An excellent alternative to the phyllo dough is puff pastry – it can be bought in a supermarket or done at home. Yeast-free baking will turn out to be closer to the classics, and use yeast if you want to bake a lush strudel.
Filo. In fact, it is also an unleavened dough. Cooking at home takes a lot of time – the dough stretches and rolls out into a very large thin sheet – therefore it is much easier to buy frozen semi-finished products rolled out by special machines into the thinnest layers for making strudel.
Thin pita bread. Since pita is also a thin unleavened dough, it can be used to make strudel, although in this case, there should be made some changes to the traditional cooking techniques.

Can I make an apple strudel in advance?

Of course, you can prepare the apple strudel in advance, you just can put it in a freezer to bake it on occasion. Prepared strudel can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Can I use canned apple pie filling instead?

Yes. You can use canned apple pie filling. But we recommend making apple pie filling, because of the taste!

Do I have to chop the apples so small?

It is not necessary to chop apples so small. Any size that you prefer would be fine. In the original recipe, the apples are sliced into 3-4 mm pieces. Also, you can grate your apples. Everything depends on what texture of strudel you want. If you want a soft filling, then chop the apples small. If you want to have a harder filling and chew your apples, then you can make bigger slices.