Because it isn’t as hard to make it yourself as you might think – with the right recipe and a bit of patience.
It is an especially nice dish for the colder times of the year, but Applestrudel has many advantages: It feeds a lot of people at once, it doesn’t take too long (most of the time is waiting time), you can get the ingredients anywhere and that also makes it inexpensive, as there is nothing too fancy in it. If you’re getting bored of your beloved apple pie sometimes, this is the perfect sweet dish for you. My applestrudel is neiter original Austrian, nor German or from South Tyrol. It is a mix between all of them. Germans often claim Applestrudel to be an original German dish but the dough originally came from the Arabic world and spread over Turkey to Vienna. But this happened over 500 years ago so does it really matter?
For the dough you need:
– 500g flower
– 130g sunflower oil
– 200ml water
For the filling you need:
– 6 apples (red sour ones are the best in my eyes, no pink ladies please, okay?)
– Lemon juice
– Rum & Raisins (if you like)
– Cinnamon
– sugar
– pine nuts (optional)
Also:
– 50g (melted) butter
– icing sugar
See? Nothing fancy.
I. The Filling:
1. Cut the apples in thin pieces like you would cut an onion
2. Mix all the filling ingredients as you wish.
Easy.
(People usually mix breadcrums through it as well to soak up the liquid but I think it’s not super necessary and makes the Strudel a bit heavy)
II. The dough:
1. Don’t get intimidated because there are 10 steps to follow
2. Mix the ingredients for the dough together (not the butter!!)
3. work it for at least 10 minutes until it gets hard and has the consistency of rubber
4. Rub more oil on it with your hands (Don’t be shy. More.)
5. wrap it tight in cling wrap (we don’t want any air on it as it get’s dry and brittle)
6. Put in the fridge for a full hour
7. Leave it out of the fridge for half an hour (I know this is a bit annoying and boring)
8. Take the dough out of the cling wrap and pull it out until it is sheer. Start in the middle with two hands and work your way towards the edges. Place it on a tea towel. Once you can see the pattern of your tea towel underneath the dough, it is thin enough.
9. Cut off the edges that are bigger than the tea towel (and freeze them to use for a second Applestrudel later)
10. Spread the butter with a brush over the dough (so it stays flexible and doesn’t tear when we roll the Strudel
III. Now, the Strudel:
1. Place the filling in the middle and make a long, flat pile with it on the dough.
2. Roll the dough over the filling pile. Don’t touch the dough by doing so. Use the tea towel underneath.
3. Cut off the edges.
4. Spread butter on it with a brush (that is what makes the Apple Strudel nice and crispy!)
5. Again, with the help of the towel, put the Strudel in an oven tray (Rub plenty of butter on the tray rather than using baking paper as you will have difficulties with cutting the Strudel later otherwise)
6. Bake it for an hour on 180°C until it is brown and crispy.
7. Cut it in pieces with a sharp knife.
8. Serve the pieces with cream, vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream.
9. Sieve some icing sugar on top.
Guten Appetit! (Enjoy your food!)
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