Daring Baker's Strudel

I've always been a fan of strudel and have made it several times. The real challenge of this particular recipe, though, is making the strudel pastry from scratch and emerging from the kitchen having not suffered a fatal heart attack from the stress of trying to get it right, although a more laid back approach is preferable. Thankfully I survived and the pastry turned out not too bad. I think next time I need to stretch it out a little more but it wasn't bad for a first attempt and I do intend to give it another go. The filling I decided on was pear and hazelnut. I love hazelnuts and the combination with pears, a little dark chocolate and orange is a match made in heaven. I have kept the original filling recipe in there so you can decide which you prefer. I hope you enjoy. 

 

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.

Posting date for the May Challenge is May 27th.

(Please also read the tips and notes on the trial runs Courtney and I did. You'll find them below the recipes.)

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

Pear strudel

3 conference pears pealed, cored and chopped into inch square pieces
50g dark chocolate coarsely grated
orange, zest and juice
50g hazelnuts, roasted and coarsely chopped
100g white breadcrumbs
100g Butter melted
capful of pear liqueur (optional)

Take 50g of the butter and melt in a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and fry until light golden brown, allow to cool.
Mix the rest of the rest of the ingredients together and set aside while you roll your strudel pastry. Simply follow the instructions for filling the strudel as with the apple strudel and bake in the oven for the time indicated. Leave to cool for about 20 mins and then serve with your favourite vanilla ice cream. Delicious



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.

What I ate over Christmas!

 



 

Happy New Year! I hope you all had lots of festive fun and food over the holiday. I'm a little late, I know, at wishing everyone a happy new year but I've been back at work since the 28th December, so I've been busy. 

What did I eat over Christmas? Well, far too much is the short answer. It is a distinct possibility that Royal Mail will issue me with a post code all of my own any day now. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I have decided it's celery and a handful of laxatives all the way to June so I can slip into my two piece (don't try this at home kids!) I don't want Green Peace throwing buckets of water over me and desperately struggling to heft my bloated form off the beach and back into the sea as soon as I lie down on my beach towel. There will be WWF leaflet campaigns, telethons and rallies all because I ate two slices of Christmas cake and not just one.  

Before I get into all the good things I'm going to delicately chew 10 times before I swallow, I will recap on a few of the lovely, naughty things I gorged on.

Christmas day consisted of all the usual lovely things. A bronze turkey, moist and delicious served with freshly made cranberry sauce, chippolata sausages, crisp roast potatoes and parsnips, stuffing and brussels sprouts boiled and then fried in a little butter with breadcrumbs and chunky chopped brazil nuts. Christmas pudding then followed with rich brandy butter melting over the top.



I think my Dad went over the top a little and made about five puddings, so I took some back with me and made a nice dessert. I simply crumbled up the christmas pudding into small chunks and gently fried them in a little butter, then topped with some ice cream. I made the ice cream myself and flavoured it with a syrup made from orange zest, juice and brandy, but vanilla would work just as well, especially with a little brandy, cointreau or amaretto drizzled over the top. 



While I was at home for Christmas, Graeme decided to make some rocky road, a la Nigella Lawson. We had seen it on her Christmas programme and thought it looked really nice. I made him promise to leave me some for when I got back after Christmas. I tucked in as soon as I got through the front door and three pieces later I was feeling rather sick, but in wonder of the beautiful thing I had just consumed. It was DELICIOUS! 

The last thing I really enjoyed was on new year. I had never had goose before but was really keen to get one. We ordered one from our trusty farm shop and it was lovely. I think it was even more lovely because I just sat down and enjoyed it and didn't have anything to do with the cooking of it at all as I was at work all day. Sadly we didn't a good picture of it before carving but you can see from the gleaming carcass that there wasn't much left of it. 



The diet starts tomorrow, fingers crossed.