The recipe I first used for apple strudel was from my Italian pastry manual. It gave a very simple and direct method and it looked easy enough. It turns out that REAL Apple Strudel is a lot more complicated. The recipe in my manual for the pastry gave no hint of the amount of water necessary nor how to " stretch" the pastry. So , after doing a bit of research and trying the recipe out about 5 times I am now confident that I can make a pretty good studel.
Strudel pastry has to be mastered. It has so few ingredients that its success depends totally on the preparation.
While traditionally a Viennese pastry, studel is also made in the area in the north of Italy called Sud Tirol which was once part of Austria. The pastry is essentially filo pastry which probably made it to Austria via the Turkish influence on the Austro- Hungarian empire..
First make the pastry. While it rests in the frig for about 30 minutes, prepare the filling.
250g plain flour
40g butter
25g sugar
1 egg 75ml water.
Sift flour and sugar onto a clean work bench.
Rub butter through the dry ingredients until there are no more lumps.
Make a well in the middle of the flour then add the water and egg and begin incorporating the flour etc until it forms a ball. Knead for a minute.
To develop the gluten in the flour (I know this sounds weird) ,form a sausage shape with the dough, hold it at one end then whack it down on to the bench. Repeat this process 100 (yes that's right) times..
Allow to rest for 30 minutes ( the pastry, not you)
Now prepare the filling.600g apple ( about 1kg before you cut and peel.)peeled and diced. I used rennets as they are in season in autumn but if you use a sweeter apple you can adjust the amount of sugar to your taste.20g pinenuts lightly toasted.70g saltanas soaked in about 1 tblsp of rum.75g sugar.1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.50g dried breadcrumbs.10g butter. Mix the dice the apple (about 1cm)Add the saltanas and rum, the cinnamon and the sugar.Lightly toast the pinenuts in a non stick pan and add to the apple mixture.In the same pan toast the breadcrumbs. When they start to colour slightly add the butter and mix through the b readcrumbs then add to the apple mix. Set aside and while stretching the pastry.To stretch the pastry well you will need to have a large work area and an old table cloth or piece of sheet as big as the table you are working on. A tea towel won't be big enough.Place the dough in the middle of the towel and roll the dough as thin as you can in all directions.Now place one hand at a time under the pastry and gently pull the pastry from the centre outwards without poking holes in it. The pastry mustn't have holes!. Slowly coax the pastry to stretch in all directions evenly. The pastry must be so thin that it's almost transparent. Melt about 100g butter.Using a pastry brush dribble or flick the melted butter generously over all of the pastry. It will tear if you brush the butter on..Put the apple mixture on one end of the pastry and using the cloth, roll the strudel trying to keep the roll as tight as possible.Cut off any excess pastry at the ends. Brush with more melted butter. It will be too long to place on a oven tray so it has to be bent or curved to that it forms a horse-shoe.Cook at 180°c for about 20 mins, brush it again with butter to stop it cracking then cook for a further 25 mins.When it's golden brown, take it out of the oven, brush it again with butter and sprinkle icing sugar on it while it's still hot..Serve with cream, ice-cream, or similar..
Strudel pastry has to be mastered. It has so few ingredients that its success depends totally on the preparation.
While traditionally a Viennese pastry, studel is also made in the area in the north of Italy called Sud Tirol which was once part of Austria. The pastry is essentially filo pastry which probably made it to Austria via the Turkish influence on the Austro- Hungarian empire..
First make the pastry. While it rests in the frig for about 30 minutes, prepare the filling.
250g plain flour
40g butter
25g sugar
1 egg 75ml water.
Sift flour and sugar onto a clean work bench.
Rub butter through the dry ingredients until there are no more lumps.
Make a well in the middle of the flour then add the water and egg and begin incorporating the flour etc until it forms a ball. Knead for a minute.
To develop the gluten in the flour (I know this sounds weird) ,form a sausage shape with the dough, hold it at one end then whack it down on to the bench. Repeat this process 100 (yes that's right) times..
Allow to rest for 30 minutes ( the pastry, not you)
Now prepare the filling.600g apple ( about 1kg before you cut and peel.)peeled and diced. I used rennets as they are in season in autumn but if you use a sweeter apple you can adjust the amount of sugar to your taste.20g pinenuts lightly toasted.70g saltanas soaked in about 1 tblsp of rum.75g sugar.1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.50g dried breadcrumbs.10g butter. Mix the dice the apple (about 1cm)Add the saltanas and rum, the cinnamon and the sugar.Lightly toast the pinenuts in a non stick pan and add to the apple mixture.In the same pan toast the breadcrumbs. When they start to colour slightly add the butter and mix through the b readcrumbs then add to the apple mix. Set aside and while stretching the pastry.To stretch the pastry well you will need to have a large work area and an old table cloth or piece of sheet as big as the table you are working on. A tea towel won't be big enough.Place the dough in the middle of the towel and roll the dough as thin as you can in all directions.Now place one hand at a time under the pastry and gently pull the pastry from the centre outwards without poking holes in it. The pastry mustn't have holes!. Slowly coax the pastry to stretch in all directions evenly. The pastry must be so thin that it's almost transparent. Melt about 100g butter.Using a pastry brush dribble or flick the melted butter generously over all of the pastry. It will tear if you brush the butter on..Put the apple mixture on one end of the pastry and using the cloth, roll the strudel trying to keep the roll as tight as possible.Cut off any excess pastry at the ends. Brush with more melted butter. It will be too long to place on a oven tray so it has to be bent or curved to that it forms a horse-shoe.Cook at 180°c for about 20 mins, brush it again with butter to stop it cracking then cook for a further 25 mins.When it's golden brown, take it out of the oven, brush it again with butter and sprinkle icing sugar on it while it's still hot..Serve with cream, ice-cream, or similar..
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