Apple Strudel – The last Word in Apple Cakes

/ February 20, 2015

I had been promising you this as the last word in apple cakes: apples, raisins and almond, wrapped in sheets of paper thin pastry. If apples could aspire to something, it would be a place in this strudel.Apfelstrudel 5

The reason it has taken me so long to get this post written is less to do with making the cake and more to do with the lack of suitable light to capture the innate beauty of the object. In fact, it’s incredibly easy to assemble – I got the recipe from the Austrian blogger Turbohausfrau and I haven’t looked back – check out my Topfenstrudel recipe and you’ll be kicking yourself for not having tried it before! You can fill the same pastry with a whole range of savoury fillings – I posted two vegetarian recipes here and here.

If you’re still not sure – even though you can use a mixer for the kneading, taking that hazard out of the equation, Ninive! – you can use ready-made filo or phyllo pastry. But only once. The next time round I’ll be expecting you to pull your own strudel!Apfelstrudel 6

Viennese Apple Strudel (makes10-12 slices)

Strudel pastry:

  • 200g plain flour
  • 100ml lukewarm water
  • 40g vegetable oil
  • pinch of salt

Mix these ingredients using your hands or a mixer; this will take some time (or effort) as you need a perfectly smooth ball. Check out my Topfenstrudel post for more pictures. Oil with a little more vegetable oil, cover and leave it to rest at room temperature for an hour, covered with a bit of cling film.Apfelstrudel filling

Apple Strudel filling:

  • 1 kg cooking apples, de-cored, peeled and cut into very fine slices
  • juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 50g / 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
  • 50g / 1/2 cup toasted, flaked almonds
  • 50g / 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 40g / 1/4 cup raisins, ideally soaked in a little rum
  • 50g/ 1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat the oven to 180C / 360F and lightly grease a large baking sheet. Once you have the filling ready. get stretching. You’ll need a table (ours is 1m x 1m or 3 ft x 3 ft) and cover it with a cotton or linen table cloth that has been lightly dusted with plain flour.

Place the dough ball in the centre and roll it out a little with a rolling pin. Once it is about 40cm / 16 inches wide you can start stretching – remember the wonderful lady who showed us how to make filo pastry:Filo 12

I did some pulling, too – but much less impressively:

Strudel pastry pulling

Should it start tearing, simply avoid that area and keep pulling elsewhere until your table is more or less covered. Cut off any thick bits at the end and cut the sheet into two. Making two shorter rolls instead of one long sausage makes it easier to lift and to serve; also, you can cater for different tastes – one of ours has to be raisin-free …

Lightly brush the sheets with a little of the melted butter, then sprinkle the breadcrumbs evenly over the whole surface – this is to soak up any surplus juices from the fruit. Follow with the apples, almonds and raisins and finish off with the sugar. Leave a small rim along the sides the last 1/4 uncovered to allow you to wrap it all up in a neat fashion.Apfelstrudel 4

Now fold in the sides by lifting up the cloth; in the same way start rolling up the two sheets:Apfelstrudel 1

Apfelstrudel 2Trust me, it’s as easy as it looks! And as for those big holes, you won’t see them once it’s all wrapped up 😉Apfelstrudel 3

Finally place the two rolls side by side on the baking sheet and brush them with the remaining melted butter. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.Apfelstrudel 7

Dust with icing sugar and serve with custard. Or zabaglione, but more of that later …

Guten Appetit and Happy Fiesta Friday to everybody over at Angie’s Novice Gardener  – I’m looking forward to the party!

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65 thoughts on “Apple Strudel – The last Word in Apple Cakes”

  4. Wow Ginger, this looks incredible! And I am in AWE of you for pulling of that pastry so well…and I wish I had the counter space in my apartment to give it a try lol

    Happy Fiesta Friday 🙂

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    • Don’t be, Suzanne! It is so easy you’ll be kicking yourself for not having tried it before! I can’t imagine what kind of fillings you’d be able to conjure up …

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  11. And…if this apple strudel could aspire to be anything, it would aspire to be in my mouth! Gorgeous, gorgeous, goreous strudel, Ginger! It was more than worth the wait…delicious. 🙂 I love the “photo tutorial”. It so helpful and takes the guesswork out of “how to” assemble. Lovely!

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    • I had to use quite a few ‘archive’ shots for the ‘action’ pictures as my assistant photographers either take ages to appear (especially the teenage ones) or to ‘adjust’ (read: fiddle around with) the settings (the adult ones). By that time the strudel’s already in the oven …

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  12. Oh, this looks delicious! 🙂 I love apple strudel, add a bit of vanilla ice cream or sauce to it and you’ll be in heaven! 🙂 I never made it myself though. This is a huge sheet of dough you have there. 😀
    Thank you so much for bringing it do the Fiesta and extend our dish palette. 🙂

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  13. Pingback: Fiesta Friday #56 | The Novice Gardener

  16. This takes apple strudel to a whole new level.. Better than BEST! Stunning, and wow!! Love the pictures, I don’t think I could handle the dough as well and professionally as you have. Brilliant Ginger!

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  23. Dear Ginger, both my husband and father love strudel more than almost any dessert and I have been wanting to make but also intimidated by the strudel stretching element . . . . but I have to do this! I am making this dish this weekend and will keep you posted. Your pastry looks so delicate and delicious I just can’t wait!!!!!

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    • I am so excited! Please let me know how it goes!! The trick is in kneading the dough vigorously and until it is completely smooth, and in stretching it very, very carefully, circling around the table to keep it even. And in rolling it up in a way that you can’t see the holes afterwards 😉

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  29. Oh my goodness, Ginger, you are at it again!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 This is so beautiful I’m longing for just a taste, or two, or three…

    I think I shall have to make this with a modification of store bought – I still fear the strudel!

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  30. I had a question, and I am contemplating (only contemplating) trying this! When you stretched the dough out and made the two rectangles, about how large are the dimensions of each? I know they have to be a bit bigger because you trim off any thick ends. Thanks!

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    • Basically I stretched it out as far as I could – my table is 3 ft by 3 ft, so you get the gist … The thinner the better (you want to be able to read a newspaper through the pastry!). Some of the pictures were taken the first time I made strudel (the cheese one) and you can see the pastry sheet ended up smaller than the table; the second apple strudel I managed to cover the whole table. I’d say they were about 17 in wide, each of them, and a little shorter than the 3 ft. Hope this helps! I wi;; be making a savoury one this weekend, with courgettes and egg plants … Once you’ve made it you’re hooked 😉

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      • Do give it a try – the worst-case scenario gets covered in a lot of icing sugar. My cheese strudel was quite ugly, but once you cut it into pieces their inner beauty will win you over. And then the taste …

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      • You should have seen the disaster I had here today – didn’t knead it properly and ended up having to make another one – no pictures, because by the time the second one was ready the daylight had moved on to new pastures …

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      • Oh yeah! We have huge problems with the short days and the thin blue light that comes with no sun…

        I hate to say this, and know I am sorry it didn’t work out but I am a little relieved to know you are just a mere mortal…:) Seriously, you make such beautiful things I feel a little less intimidated! 🙂

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