Apple strudel, this dessert recipe is one to be cherished. This will definitely be in your “favorite things” repertoire, who doesn’t love a crisp apple strudel! Here is an authentic recipe that takes some time but worth the effort.
Altwiener Apfelstrudel (Viennese Apple Strudel)
Servings 12
Ingredients
- For the Dough:
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon oil
- 13 tablespoons lukewarm water
- For the crumb filling:
- 7 Tablespoons butter
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- For the apple filling:
- ½ cup raisins
- 4 Tablespoons rum or orange juice
- 6 cups peeled cored and chopped baking apples (granny smith or gala work well)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Melted butter 1 stick for brushing the dough
- Powdered sugar for decoration
Instructions
- For the dough:
- Mix together in a large bowl, the flour and the salt.
- Add in the water and then the oil
- Stir together with a spoon until it comes together and you can work it with your hands.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and tacky, but not sticky about 5 minutes.
- If you need to add more flour, add just one teaspoon at a time.
- Form the dough into a smooth ball and brush it with a little bit of oil.
- Place the ball back into the bowl and cover for one hour.
- For the crumb filling:
- Heat the butter in a saucepan until foaming and then add in the bread crumbs.
- Toast them stirring constantly until medium brown, set aside to cool.
- For the apple filling:
- Soak the raisins in the rum or orange juice.
- In a large bowl, mix together the apples, raisins, sugar, lemon juice, zest and cinnamon, mix well.
- Roll out the dough on a large floured work surface to about 9”x13”
- Lightly flour a clean tea towel and place it over the dough.
- Grab both the dough and towel and flip it over making sure to straighten both of them.
- Using your hands gently stretch the dough, thinner on all sides, working your way around all the dough. Let it rest a minute and stretch again any thick areas.
- Spread the breadcrumbs over 2/3 of the dough and pat down evenly.
- Drain the apples and spread them over the other 1/3 of the dough.
- Cut off any thick edges with kitchen shears or a pastry knife.
- Using the towel, fold one side of the dough over the filling.
- Brush the exposed dough with the melted butter.
- Fold in the ends of the dough like a burrito or envelope
- Fold the other side of the dough up and over the filling to form a roll.
- Brush with butter.
- Use the towel to move the strudel to a parchment lined baking dish, so the seam side of the strudel is facing down.
- Brush with melted butter
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn down to 350 degrees for 40 -60 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and brush again with melted butter and sprinkle with powdered sugar while it is still warm.
- Cut into 1 ½ inch wide slices and serve with whipped cream, or vanilla Ice cream.
