Rabbit Reporting » Daring Bakers (May 09) - Strudel (German for strenuous forearm workout)!

Daring Bakers (May 09) - Strudel (German for strenuous forearm workout)!

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.

Making strudel reinforced what I’ve learned about myself during the past four months of daring baking… patience is clearly my Achilles heel. My usual approach to DB is to wait for at least half a month so I can capitalize on the wisdom that comes in from early experimenters. I applied this strategy this time around too, but failed to heed advice that the strudel dough really does require patience rolling-out so that it becomes very, very thin. I didn’t apply myself sufficiently to this task and so my dough remained a bit too… doughy. Still, while my strudel wasn’t flakey or crispy enough to be the real deal it was pretty tasty and it didn’t last too long.

Even mixing by hand this dough came together with no problem. I added a touch of extra water and kneaded a bit more than if I’d let an electronic device do the early work, but it was by no means weary-ing and I probably over-kneaded because it’s so cool when it starts to come together and be a bit alive in your hands. After a good kneading the dough needed to sleep, so I let it be for a few hours.

I made my own bread crumbs by toasting some leftover lobster bread (our local Viet bakery bakes bread animals… we had lobsters on that particular day). Then I crushed said croutons into crumbs and warmed it into a golden and buttery mixture.

The bread crumbs are actually a physics thing insofar as they help the layers of dough to separate when cooking, so they’re an important part of the recipe.

I made a full recipe since I making this dough is dirt-cheap, but it was never my intention to make a giant strudel. There are only two of us and we have a really mean personal trainer so we don’t want to become fat-like-strudel ourselves. I worked with only half the recipe and from that made two small pastry commas.

Rolling the dough was the difficult bit, and the fact that I was working with small batches put me at a distinct advantage from those DB’ers who were working with a full recipe. Also, I plead that as I condo dwell we genuinely don’t have the counter space to accommodate the full recipe which stretches out to quite shocking proportions.

When it came to rolling, I taped a torn up bedsheet to my countertop and made sure it was adequately floured. And I rolled. And I rolled And I rolled. My dough never really got all that thing (see previous confession re: patience problem), but it was thin enough that it was beginning to tear in spots, and I was personally pleased with its thin-ness although I saw that my colleagues were doing better. One DB reported that strudel out to be thin enough that one can read love letters through the dough, and another documented photographs were the pages of a book were indeed quite legible through her pastry.

For the fillings, I decided to go with the classics. I started with apple and raisin mixing some Ontario McIntosh apples with some fat Thompson raisins and bits of brown and white sugar and plenty of cinnamon. I didn’t add any rum (as suggested in the recipe), but it was still delicious.

I also made one strudel with cherry and sweet cheese The cheese was simply some cream cheese from our local Cheese Guy at the St. Lawrence Market (Toronto!) with a bit of sugar and vanilla in the mix. I made a cherry pie filling with bottled sour cherries and a touch of corn starch and sugar.

The second strudel (the apple subject) was my second try at dough-rolling and it was visibly browner and crispier than the cherry subject after baking.

Although I’ve complained that my strudel weren’t really “right” in a technical sort of way, they were quite delicious. The apple was probably a bit better not just because the pastry was more refined, but also because the filling had the edge on luscious-ness. The cherry did rely on jarred fruit and it didn’t taste as great as when my grandma used to use pit her own sour cherries (duh).

Thanks to our hosts for this fun challenge… I may try this again for a dinner party at some point since I think the recipe could be excellently manipulated for savory canapes.

And now the recipe… I’m including the recipe for apple (apfel!!) filling, but really you can stuff this pastry with sweet or savory or whatever you want. Other Daring Bakers produced savory versions including samosa, spinach and cheese, and an astonishing variation with a veal roast (strudel Wellington). Sweetie variations included lots with berries, rhubarb (just seasonal!), mango, and even some with chocolate-y fillings.

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

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.

Posted on May 27th, 2009 by rabbit
Filed under: Uncategorized

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