Traditional strudel isn’t made with puff pastry but with its own special dough. Although its origins are Turkish (related to baklava), it now mostly known as a recipe from Austria. You can also find strudel in North-East Italy, because of the proximity of Austria and the region of Tyrol that used to be Austrian but is now Italian. I’ve prepared this strudel using Marina’s mother’s recipe for Strudel di Mele from Le Recette di Baccos. Thanks Marina, for sharing the family recipe. The only difference is that I made only half. This apple strudel is not very sweet, and would also be great for breakfast. Some recipes put the sugar in the filling, others put the sugar in the dough.

The dough is a bit tricky to work with, but with the help of a tea towel you should have no trouble baking your own traditional strudel without having to resort to store-bought puff pastry.

Ingredients

For the dough

125 grams (3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp) flour

1 1/2 Tbsp neutral vegetable oil (e.g. canola, grapeseed)

1 egg

pinch of salt

40 grams (3 Tbsp) sugar

zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

For the filling

600 grams tart apples

25 grams (2 1/2 Tbsp) pine kernels

20 grams (2 Tbsp) raisins

25 grams (2 1/2 Tbsp) coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

rum

2 Tbsp breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp butter

For finishing the strudel

butter

powdered sugar

Preparation

Combine the flour, vegetable oil, salt, sugar, egg, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Mix with the paddle attachment until the dough becomes a crumbly mixture. Now add just enough lemon juice to make the dough come together. Do not add more than necessary, as that will make the dough very sticky. If it does become too sticky, add a bit more flour.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for half an hour.

Put the raisins in a bowl and cover with rum.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan and brown the breadcrumbs over medium heat until they are crunchy.

Peel, core, and shred the apples. Put the shredded apple in a bowl together with the cinnamon, pine kernels, walnuts, raisins, and rum.

Toss to mix.

Dust a tea towel with flour. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough on top of the tea towel.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle of about 30 cm (12″) by 40 cm (16″).

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF (not fan forced).

Spread out the breadcrumbs on top of the dough, leaving the outside 5 cm (2″) bare.

Cover the same area with the apple mixture.

Roll up the strudel with the help of the tea towel.

This was easier than I expected (unlike taking a good photograph of the process, apparently).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use the tea towel to carefully transfer the strudel onto the parchment paper.

Tuck in the ends.

Melt some butter and brush the top of the strudel with melted butter.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Bake at 200ºC/400ºF (not fan forced) for 35-40 minutes.

Take the strudel out of the oven and brush it again with melted butter while it is still hot.

Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar, and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.

Wine pairing

Because it is not overly sweet, this works well with Moscato d’Asti or a white dessert wine that is not very sweet.

Flashback

This pear tart is delicious and I will make it again myself soon!