Strudels are forever

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

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"Bond, someone has stolen the Ancient Strudel from the AltStadthaus in Munich." M explained. "The Germans's are frantic"

"Ahh, I would be too if you called London by another name. I do believe M, with all due respect, that Munich is actually Munchen. You really should revisit the Diplomacy 101 course, M. I believe its now available online too." Replied Bond with a little smirk.


"Damn it and confound it Bond." M spat out. "This is Not the time to worry about semantics. I say Potayto, you say Po-tah-to. I say Munich, the Germans say Munchen. I dont really care Bond, not when the Ancient Strudel is missing, Bond" She emphasised the last 'Bond' and James detected a little bit of distaste in the way she spat out his name.

"Well, I'd love to help M, but you see, I have the shingles." Bond replied softly.

"James. You've always been single as far as I've known. And since when did you develop such a terrible lisp?"

"No, No M, No! I've got a case of the Shingles. You know, that chicken pox virus that stays in your system and then breaks out when you least expect it?" Bond explained. "Thats what I've got. A bad case of the shingles."

"Ahhh. I see." M replied. "You've got Shingles. I thought you were complaining about the fact that you are Single..."

"Well, I must admit that I do worry about that sometimes M. I mean just the other day, I was with Marye and she suggested playing doctor... but as soon as she saw my Shingles, she made a beeline for the door. Matter of fact, no one wants to play doctor with me nowadays M, not when I have the Shingles."

Bond caught Moneypenny glancing over at him but then shaking her head. Confound it! Even Moneypenny wasn't giving him the time of day... Blast these damn shingles!

To cut a long story short, it appears that the Ancient Strudel was 'taken' by the Daring Bakers for the May Challenge and was returned in one piece much to the happiness of the Germans.

Fortunately I didnt get struck with Shingles until AFTER I had made the Strudel and I thought it would be a good laugh to write a post related to Bond having the shingles. So with my little Bond lark completed, on to how the challenge turned out.

I have to admit that I had a little trouble with getting the dough tissue thin. I also wasnt sure what the consistency of the dough should have been as I found that even after resting, the dough was rather sticky and it stuck to the tablecloth that I used. I worked in more flour into the cloth and managed to get the dough rather thin - but perhaps not as tissue thin as it should have been. I dont know! Also, it is definitely not easy supporting the dough with your forearms while stretching it. Hairy ForeArms are not a good thing to have!!! Fortunately, no hair was lost in the making of this strudel...


Also, I decided to make one long strudel and two smaller ones. So I divided the dough out and rolled them separately. I also made a mistake for the large strudel. In my haste to get everything done, I forgot to coat the rolled out dough with butter and breadcrumbs. Dummy! I did do it though for the smaller rolls and the pastry was much nicer with the butter on it. The breadcrumbs also helped to separate the layers nicely.



Although the Strudel was tasty and also a lot of fun to make, it wasn't that well received by my taste testers. They all liked it, bit it didn't get rave reviews not requests for more the next day. I ended up eating most of the strudel!



There IS a reason for this that I will explain. You see, The Lovely Wife makes a KILLER apple pie and also a KILLER Apple Crumble. So when you compared this to those two - well, no contest really.




Nonetheless, I am very proud to say that I can now make a strudel - and an authentic one at that. Not those made with puff pastry and sliced in half and sandwhiched with cream and apples!!

Thankyou Coco and Linda for this wonderful challenge - it was certainly a lot of fun!

Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes

15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;
- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyster;
- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewelry from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;
- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;
- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.