Apple Strudel
This traditional dessert is ideally made on a weekend or holiday afternoon. With strudel made from scratch, family and friends can participate. Anyone who washes their hands can experience the magic of patiently pulling dough from a rolled-out humble ball into a see-through skin that transforms into the size of a tablecloth. Filled with luscious fruit, the many-layered dessert roll is so large that it must be bent into a horseshoe shape. Children love the "snow" of sugar at the end. This recipe comes from being a busboy at the Old Vienna in Austin, where Austrian chef Eric Kriel made this weekly. Great with coffee. ~Mark
Yield 16 servings
Ingredients
filling:
8 large green apples, peeled, cut to half-inch slices
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon lemon peel, grated or thickly zested
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
dough:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons melted butter
layering:
1 cup melted butter
3/4 cup finely crushed day-old bread crumbs
3/4 cup sliced almonds, plus more for garnish
finish:
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
| 1 | Make filling by mixing apples, sugar, cinnamon, raisins, lemon peel, and flour. |
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| 2 | Make dough in a separate bowl, beating egg, water, vinegar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and salt. Gradually sift in flour and mix until dough is firm. |
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| 3 | On a board, knead dough for about 10 minutes until it becomes elastic. As you knead, add half-teaspoons of flour as required if dough seems wet. |
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| 4 | Shape dough into a ball and cover with a bowl. Rest for 30 minutes. |
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| 5 | On a large clean tabletop (up to six feet long), roll dough out 1/8 inch thick. Slowly work with back of hands to thin out gently until dough is a rectangular paper-thin skin. If it drapes over table edges, trim outer rim with scissors. |
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| 6 | Brush melted butter over dough skin, reserving a few tablespoons to brush the finished strudel. Cast bread crumbs and almonds evenly over dough. |
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| 7 | Drain filling, then pour it along a long side of the dough, leaving room at ends to fold over. |
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| 8 | Begin rolling up dough with filling. It helps to have an extra set of hands to roll the strudel evenly. Halfway through rolling, fold up ends of strudel so the filling won't ooze out in baking. |
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| 9 | Carefully move strudel to baking sheet forming a horseshoe if necessary to fit. |
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| 10 | Brush with melted butter. With a sharp knife, make a series of small slits in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Garnish with some sliced almonds. |
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| 11 | Bake at 450°F for 10 minutes in middle of oven, then at 400°F for about 20 minutes, until golden and fruit is tender. Remove from oven and rest one hour. |
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| 12 | When serving, dust each slice with confectioners sugar. |
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notes
NOTE Be patient when pulling out the dough. Fingers easily pierce the skin, so be gentle and use only the back of your hands. It will become so thin you can almost see through it. Strudel may also be made with fillings other than apple, such as cherry or peach.
