Delicious Apple Strudel: A Viennese Recipe
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The traditional process of making Viennese strudel is so fascinating that it is shown to tourists and visitors to Vienna. The recipe is not hidden because it is unique. In kind and skillful hands, Viennese apple strudel will be flawless, melting and aromatic, yet inimitable and exclusive. It all depends on your mood, your emotions, and your love of cuisine.
The idea of the show is that, before the eyes of an astonished audience, ordinary dough is transformed into a sheet so thin that it seems the sun's rays can penetrate it. Such mastery is worthy of photos and applause.
You can marvel at what you see and tremble with delight, telling your family how captivating it is. Or you can memorize a simple recipe and recreate the Viennese spirit in your own kitchen, surprising your guests with a new dish.
Apple Strudel Recipe
There are many varieties of strudel. The dough used to make it is sometimes purchased from the store. Puff pastry, unleavened, and rolled out at home to the thinnest possible thickness.
But our recipes are perfect. Here, we describe step-by-step and meticulously how you'll create your own masterpiece, from the first handful of flour to the moment the oven turns off and the wonderful smell of baked apples begins to fill your lungs.
Ingredients for cooking:
- Chicken eggs – 2 yolks;
- Butter – 2 tablespoons;
- Premium wheat flour – 250g;
- Salt – to taste (pinch).
Filling for layered dessert:
- Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon;
- Apples – 2-4 apples (depending on the size of the fruit);
- Lemon – 1 lemon for squeezing juice;
- Bread crumbs (unseasoned breadcrumbs) – 100 g;
- Almonds (or other nuts) – 70-80g;
- Butter – 100g;
- Powdered sugar – 2 tablespoons;
- Sour cream – 120-150 gr;
- Raisins (white and black) – 100 g;
- Granulated sugar – 100g.
How to make an original dessert?
The recipe recommends using plastic wrap, vegetable oil, and half a glass of warm water for the first step. Add salt, a couple of egg yolks, and melted butter to the flour, dilute with water, and mix everything until you have a firm, elastic dough.
When a nice lump forms under your fingers, you know the Viennese dessert was born under your caring hands. Roll it up tightly, brush the top with vegetable oil, wrap it in plastic wrap, and leave it in a cool (not icy) place for an hour.
While the dough is rising, peel the apples, cut them into thin slices, and sprinkle them with lemon juice. Add the steamed raisins to the apples.
Place a tablespoon of butter (or a little more) in a hot frying pan. Before the butter starts to smoke, add the almond flakes (or crushed walnuts, peanuts, or hazelnuts) and mix with the bread crumbs.
This is how we obtain the finished products required for a Viennese dessert. They are necessary to complete several further steps contained in the recipe.
Let's get back to the strudel dough. The resting lump needs to be pounded thoroughly. Sprinkle the surface with flour, but be careful not to create a dusting of dust as you do this: use only a very small amount, like powder. Now you can throw the dough at the table with all your might, tossing it as if you were trying to form the thinnest pancake possible with the first blow. This will ensure the Viennese strudel is more tender than ever.
When you're tired, distract yourself by melting the butter you've left over according to the recipe. If you want the exact strudel recipe preserved in Vienna itself, you must carefully prepare the dough. This is a crucial step in preparation.
The dough for Viennese strudel should be very, very thin. As thin as you can roll it out. To understand the purpose of this thin dough, let's tell a little story. Strudel became a traditional dish thanks to one restaurant chef who worked only with assistants who knew how to roll out the dough so thin you could read newspapers through it.
But the strudel dough shouldn't tear. Another point: the edges remain thickened to make it easier to grip the thin sheet, while the rest of the dough becomes thin and translucent.
When you think your dough is ready, place it on a clean kitchen towel. It's sometimes easier to handle if the towel is thick, damp (not dripping wet), and warm. Carefully trim the edges so they don't extend beyond the tablecloth.
Next, the recipe calls for greasing the dough sheet with sour cream, sprinkling it with sugar, spreading the prepared raisin and apple filling over the entire sheet, and sprinkling it with cinnamon. Now carefully roll it up using a towel. You won't be able to transport this "log" any other way, as the dough won't hold up, and the filling will tear through the thin layers.
Place the strudel on a baking sheet, first greasing it with butter. Then grease the apple strudel with butter. Bake for about 45 minutes, until golden and crispy.
Possible fillings
You can choose the filling yourself and improvise every day, but never forget about the thin crust – this is the main rule contained in the Viennese strudel recipe.
Here are some examples of fillings for beginner cooks:
- Made with pear and black raisins;
- Made with cinnamon, walnuts, white raisins and honey;
- Banana and hazelnut with strawberries;
- Made with cranberries and cinnamon with powdered sugar;
- From lemon and orange.
If you master the art of dough, your every fantasy will become reality, surprising your family and friends with ever-expanding flavors of their favorite dessert. After all, the key here is genuine love, and the recipe is created in the process. And perhaps one day, your Viennese strudel recipe will become the best this world has ever seen.
