Genuine Apple Strudel
GENUINE APPLE STRUDEL (this recipe relates to my story of “Aldar and the Golem of Prague”).
It takes a lot of preparation, but it is the real Austrian thing.
Dough Ingredients for 3, 16 x 30 inch dough plates:
3 cups (450 grams) Bread flour
3/4 tsp (7 grams) Salt
3/4 cup (180 ml) Water, room temperature
1/4 tsp (1.25 mil) White vinegar
2 Tbs (40 grams) Butter, melted and cooled to near room temperature
2 large eggs Warmed to room temperature (1 for dough; 1 for later)
Filling Ingredients for one 14 to 16 inch ( 35-40 cm ) wide roll
2 medium Apples Approx. 11 1/2 oz. (300g) of chopped apple
1/4 cup (50 grams) Honey
35 g 1/4 cup ( 35 grams) White or golden raisins
1 Tbs (15 ml) Fruit schnapps (optional)
1/4 cup (30 grams) Walnuts finely chopped
2/3 tsp (2 gram) Cinnamon
4 Tbs (80 grams) Melted butter
Dried bread crumbs to sprinkle.
Dough Preparation
- Mix the dry ingredients (flour and salt) in the bowl of an electric mixer or large mixing bowl.
- Mix the remaining dough ingredients (the wet ones) in a small mixing bowl.
- Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients while stirring.
- Mix for about 3 minutes with electric mixture with a pasty arm or about 5 minutes if doing it by hand; until the dough forms a firm ball. (If it does not form a firm ball, add flour a few tsp at a time.)
- After you get a firm ball, let it rest for 10 minutes to allow the flour to fully absorb the fluids.
- On a floured surface, kneed the dough by hand for 10 minutes, or you can kneed with a pasty arm of a heavy duty mixer.
- Form the dough into a ball, place on a floured surface, and let it rest of one hour. You can prepare the filling toward the end of the time period.
Filling Preparation
- Place the raisins in the bottom of a medium mixing bowl. Optional: add the schnapps, and allow to soak for about 30 minutes.
- Peel and core the apples; slice into small pieces (1cm), and add to the raisins.
- Add honey, cinnamon, and nuts. Mix well.
Dough Preparation continued
- Spread a nap-less large pastry towel on a hard counter.
- Generously flour the towel.
- Divide the dough in three equal parts, roughly 8 oz. (230 grams) each. (2 can be frozen or refrigerated for later use)
- Place the small dough ball to be used on the cloth, brush its top with melted butter.
- Roll it out into a 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick piece.
- Brush the top surface of the dough with melted butter.
- Fold the dough over.
- Working to get the dough into a rectangle, roll out the dough again to 1/8 inch thick.
- Repeat steps 6,7, & 8 three or four times. Each time rolling to 1/8 inch thick.
- Enlarge the sheet of dough to about 16 inches (40 cm) by 24 inches (60cm) long. Do this by using a combination of hand stretching and rolling.
Final Assembly and baking (baking time approx. 30 minutes)
- Preheat the oven to 450oF (230 C).
- Prepare a supply of melted butter (about half a stick-4 oz), plus a beaten egg.
- Brush the dough generously with melted butter then sprinkle lightly with bread crumbs.
- Distribute the filling mix along one short edge of dough in a 3 inch (75 mm) wide row.
- Leave 1 inches (2-3) cm at each end free of filling for later sealing.
- Lift the short end of the pastry towel near the filling and begin rolling the dough around the filling.
- After each roll over of the log, brush the top with butter.
- Continue rolling until the dough is completely wrapped around the filling.
- Use some egg wash to seal the ends of the roll.
- Lightly butter a cookie pan. ( Recommend one with a lip, because the filling may leak.)
- Using two large spatulas, transfer the roll to the pan, seam down.
- Brush the roll with egg wash.
- Bake for 10 min.
- Turn oven down to 400oF (200 C), add egg wash again, continue baking for an additional 20 min.
- Check every 5 min or so until sufficiently browned.
