Apfel Strudel

I’m going to Vienna today. Not Vienna, Virginia. Vienna, Austria. I’m going for work, because my job is awesome like that. I’m going to stick around afterwards for a bit and hit up Salzburg and Prague. I’m still debating the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and my itinerary is wide open for Prague. Any suggestions?

So anyways…this blog for the next week will be full of my adventures, culinary or otherwise as I make way through central Europe.

But for now, in honor of my impending trip, I tried to make a traditional Austrian Apfel Strudel. I have no idea how authentic it is (I’ll have to verify that in the next few days), but it was tasty. Bread crumbs (yes bread crumbs) cut down on the sweetness of the apples, and the pastry puffs up and gets crunchy that flakes off with each bite.

Apfel Strudel

adapted from About.com

For the dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 13 Tbsp luke warm water

For the Apple Filling

• 5-6 large sized apples
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1-2 tsp lemon zest
• melted butter for brushing the dough
• powdered sugar for decoration

For the Bread Crumb Filling

• 7 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs

To make the dough, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Gradually add the water and the oil until a soft dough is formed. The dough should be smooth but not sticky. If necessary, add a little bit more flour a teaspoon at a time.

Knead the dough lightly, form into a ball, then brush with vegetable oil. Let rise in a covered bowl for about an hour.

In the meantime, you can make the filling!

To make the apple filling, wash, core, peel, and slice up the apples into small chunks. Mix the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and cinnamon in with the apples. Make sure to coat the slices evenly and set aside for about 30 minutes.

To make the bread crumbs, heat the butter in a frying pan until foaming. Add the breadcrumbs and stir continually until they are toasted brown.

Now for the fun part.

Take the dough and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 9″ x 13″. Once it’s rolled out, place a clean towel on top of the dough and flip it over. You will be using the towel to help roll up the strudel.

Once it’s on the towel, using your hands, stretch the dough until it starts to become translucent. It will still be thick at the edges, but they will be cut off later.

After the dough is rolled out, brush it with some melted butter. Then spread the bread crumbs over 2/3 of the dough, and the apples over the remaining third. Then, cut off any thick edges.

Using the towel, fold one side of the dough over the filling. Brush with butter and fold in the edges. Then fold over the other side. Brush the whole thing  with butter. Then, using the towel, manuever the roll onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper with the seam side down. It was definitely floppy and an extra pair of hands might be helpful.

Bake at 400º for 20 minutes and then for an additional 40-60 minutes at 350º.  After you remove it from the oven, brush with a bit more butter and sprinkle on some powdered sugar. Slice into 2″ thick slices and enjoy!