Apfel Strudel

I think this is the most excited I’ve ever been for a Daring Baker Challenge! After spending a year and a half in Austria as a representative for the LDS church, I kept my eye out for authentic, Viennese, like-the-little-old-ladies-would-make, strudel. Ladies and gents, this is it — faintly sweet apple filling encased in delicate layers of flaky, homemade crust. All I need now is a dirndl and an alpenhorn. (Oh, wait, I have a dirndl. I just need it to fit.)

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
The Outcome

Stretching out a tiny piece of dough into a 2 foot by 3 foot sheet of strudel garb was the biggest challenge. After wrestling a lot of pizza dough, I anticipated a lot of bounce back and even more frustration. Not so with this dough. It just stretched and stretched and stretched. Then it stretched even more after I let it rest for a few minutes to get the filling ready. The biggest challenge at that point was to keep my two-year-old from pulling the table cloth off the table. We had a few close calls.

In that bottom photo I wanted you to see a before and after comparison so you could gawk in amazement at how far the dough stretched. I made a double batch of dough in case the first one hated me. Fortunately it liked me so I put the other half of the dough in the freezer. Finding out if strudel dough freezes well is my next experiment.

 

As you can see mine had a lot of holes. That really didn’t matter because it would be rolled up eventually and baked all together.

Not the most attractive piece of uncooked pastry, I know. Anyone seen Tremors with Kevin Bacon? Huh. Oh, about the little X’s I put on the strudel . . . the little old ladies who would make us strudel (and now have received another ginormous amount of respect from me) would always put X’s on the strudel so you know they made it themselves and didn’t buy it at the bakery.”Why don’t the bakeries do that?” asks Steve.

I don’t know, they just don’t.

My ThoughtsEating a slice of this with some whipped cream on the side made me homesick for Vienna. A few daring bakers commented that the filling wasn’t very sweet. It really isn’t. Most of the sweetness comes from the apples, which probably didn’t satisfy a lot of American sweet tooths. I’d take a slice of this over apple pie any day. Steve said he would, too.

Apfel Strudel

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

Directions:

Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.

Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Nat's Notes:
1. I don't like raisins in things like this. I also don't like nuts in things like this. I left both out.

from Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers

Austrian-German, Desserts - Other

 8 comments »