Scarlett WApple and Currant Strudel
September 11th 2007 10:33
Apple and Currant Strudel
About strudel
Strudel is a type of Central European pastry, especially popular in Austria, where it is believed to have originated. Strudel pastry is very elastic, it is made from flour with a high gluten content and with very little fat and no sugar. The pastry is rolled out and stretched very thinly over the back of one’s hand, it should be so thin that a newspaper can be read through it. Then the pastry is laid out on a tea towel, filled and then rolled up with the towel. It is baked in an oven.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 1 strudel
For the pastry
150 gm plain flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
30 gm butter
1 egg
100 ml warm water
For the filling
3 green apples
30 gm dried grapes
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
icing sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Grease and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. For the pastry. Sift the flour and salt together in a large warm bowl. Make a well in the centre; add ½ egg and the butter. You can do this by hand or use a mixer. Stirring constantly, gradually add the lukewarm water. Keep the mixture a smooth paste and keep mixing until a soft dough is formed. Cover with cling film and set aside for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Peel, core and dice apples, and then mix with lemon juice.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the diced apples with lemon juice, black currants, dried grapes, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Set aside.
5. Cover a large table with a cloth. Dust the cloth well with flour and rub the strudel dough in lightly.
6. Using plenty of dusting flour, place one piece of dough in the center of the table and, with a rolling pin, roll it out roughly into an oval or rectangle with about ¾-cm thickness. This step is meant only to start the stretching, so don’t try to roll the dough too thin. Cover with damp towel and set aside for 10 minutes.
7. Put your hands under the dough with the backs of the hands up. Carefully begin stretching the dough from the center outward, using the backs of your hands, not your fingers, to avoid poking holes in the dough. Work your way around the table, gently stretching the dough little by little in all directions. Concentrate on the thickest parts of the dough, so that it is of even thickness all around.
8. Keep on stretching the dough until it is paper thin and nearly transparent. If small holes appear, you can ignore them; if large holes appear, patch them with pieces of dough from the edges after stretching is complete.
9. Brush the dough all over with the melted butter. If you brush the fat on, draw the brush very lightly over the dough to avoid tearing it.
10. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs evenly over the dough.
11. Spread the filling over the pastry, in the centre, leaving a gap all the way round the edge, about 2.5cm/1-in wide. Roll up the pastry carefully and brush with egg juice.
12. Place the strudel on the prepared baking tray, bake for 30 minutes.
13. When cool, cut into pieces, dust with icing sugar.
**From “Dessert by Winnie”, “Professional Baking” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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