Dessert
6 - 8 servings
2 hours
30 minutes
Chef Rick Vargas
The ingredients are simple, but the preparation takes some practice. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work the first time. It's an art worth mastering. The sweet apple filling can easily be replaced with a different, low moisture fruit, or with a savory one.
2 cups Water
2 pounds Flour
2 ounces Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Egg Whites
1 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Milk
10 Granny Smith Apples (or Gravenstein) peeled and chopped
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Organic Lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Golden Raisins
1/4 pound Butter
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
Combine dough ingredients in a mixer with dough hook, knead for 10 minutes. Roll into 4 balls, brush with vegetable oil, and cover with a plastic wrap. Let rest 30 minutes. Take one of the dough balls; roll flat on a floured tablecloth, to 1/2 inch thick.
Keep flouring both dough and cloth during this process. Flour your hands, and carefully start pulling on the dough, making it thinner. Dough should be able to flow slowly as it is handled. The trick is to keep pulling on the dough, making it thinner, without puncturing it. The resultant dough sheet should be paper thin and translucent. Good strudel dough can be read though.
Combine filling ingredients, let rest for 30 minutes, squeeze all fluids out. Once the dough is ready, apply some of butter (melted) to dough with brush. Spread filling in a line on one edge of dough sheet.
Using a cloth, start rolling dough around line of filling. Avoid trapping cloth in dough or tearing the dough. Keep brushing with butter as you roll. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Brush with melted butter after 10 minutes and when it is done. Take strudel out when it is lightly browned. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Optional - add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
The recipe only has enough filling for 2 dough balls - the assumption is that you'll ruin at least two of them while experimenting. As you get more skilled, you can cut the dough recipe in half.
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