It might be that this winter is making me post lots of apple recipes. It also might be that I post them because they make me deeply happy, lol! This apple strudel is DELICIOUS. I also like to teach you how to make the dough that makes this dessert a GREAT dessert.
I first posted this recipe on July 2017 because I got many requests to show how to make it. There was also a particular interest to see how the dough is made and handled. So because I don’t have any German or Austrian heritage, I had to search for a nice dough recipe that I thought I could trust. That’s how I arrived to the blog Lil’ Vienna where I found a recipe that looked really good. So the dough recipe is by them and they also have a very nice traditional viennese strudel recipe if want to try it out. Mine however is a bit different. It has a major twist which is that I used finely chopped walnuts instead of the traditional breadcrumbs to cover the dough before rolling it out. I think it gives it an extra splash of flavour.
To serve with this apple strudel I whipped cream but you can also make a vanilla crème anglaise which is classic. To make it you can go check out my vanilla ice cream recipe and make only the crème anglaise ;). I think I prefer it with cream, hehe. It makes me feel like I’m in the set for Inglorious Basterds by Tarantino.
I know that the dough can look a bit hard to make, specially the stretching of it. However it’s what really makes this recipe be something special. Those mini layes feel incredible when you cut through them. They also go really crispy. Many people replace it with filo / phyllo pastry but I have to say they’re a bit different.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 145 g all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 80 ml lukewarm water
- 1/2 tsp apple or cider vinegar
- 15 ml vegetable oil
For the filling
- 950 g Royal Gala apples, Pink Lady or similar any apples that aren’t completely dark red or green
- 80 g walnuts
- 40 g butter + more for painting (about 60g)
- 80 g sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 70 g raisins
- as needed icing sugar to garnish
For the whipped cream
- 300 ml whipped cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Instructions
For the dough
- Mix the flour and salt. Make a hole in the center and pour the rest of the ingredients in. Mix with a spatula first and then finish by kneading with your hands without any extra flour.
- Develop the gluten in the flour for a nice elasticity by slamming the dough on the table for about 15-20min. For further reference, watch the video 🙂
- Make a ball out of the dough and lightly coat it with vegetable oil. Let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature in a bowl covered with a kitchen cloth. If you want to make the dough ahead, you can leave it to rest in the fridge covered with oil and cling film for a maximum of 3 days and then let it come completely to room temperature before going to the next step.
- While the dough is resting, go ahead and make the filling.
- Once it has rested, stretch it out on a clean and lightly floured surface using a rolling pin. Get it as thin as you can.
- Lay the dough on a couple of kitchen cloths or on a table cloth and stretch out the dough forming a rectangle, pulling gently. If you have long fingernails, then make sure to use the back of your fists for this. If you can get someone else to help you stretch it out from across the table, then it’s even faster. Make sure it’s not wider than your baking tray so you don’t have to fold it for it to fit.
- Stop stretching once you can see through it. Then cut off the thick edges using a clean pair of scissors and use these trimmings to stretch them and cover any tears in the dough.
For the filling
- Toast the walnuts in the oven for about 5-10min at 180C / 350F or until they are golden and smell of fresh popcorn. Chop them up until very fine or use a food processor. The texture should be similar to breadcrumbs.
- Mix the walnuts with the butter (melted and at room temperature) and half the cinnamon, sugar and salt mix.
- Peel, core and slice the apples. Don't make them too thin or they'll turn into compote, when we actually want to feel their texture. Mix them with the other half of the cinnamon, sugar and salt mix.
- Rehydrate the raisins by adding boiling water (it could also be hot Rum, Amaretto or Calvados) to them and letting them rest there for 5-10min.
Assembly
- Paint half the dough with some of the extra melted butter and on the other half spread out the walnut mix. Make sure to leave about 3-4cm around the edges free of walnuts so you can fold the dough in.
- Place the apples on top of the walnuts and press down to make sure they're in place and sprinkle the rehydrated raisins on top.
- Fold the sides onto the filling and then use the kitchen cloths to help you roll it into place. Watch the video for further reference :). Finally roll it onto a baking tray with baking paper with the seams underneath.
- Brush the strudel with some of the extra butter and it goes into a preheated oven at 180C / 350F for about 30min or until evenly golden. Halfway through take it out and brush it with more butter. If you see that the top is getting golden way faster than the rest of the strudel, you can put tin foil on top to prevent it from over-caramelizing.
- Let it cool down about 15min before cutting or it will fall apart. Sprinkle some icing sugar on top and whip some cream to serve next to it.
For the whipped cream
- Whip all the ingredients together until fluffy. If it starts to go too hard you can always bring it back by adding more cream and mixing with a spatula.
Notes
