Wolf's Den

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of ‘make life sweeter!’ and Courtney of ‘Coco Cooks’. They have chosen Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.



I’ve never made Strudel before. And this is really, really long, with lots of photos, so settle in. Got your Tea? Good…


No, really, I haven’t. I swear. So this was truly a fun first time recipe for me. Heck, even my mom has never made strudel before. Of course, now, she says when we come to Michigan in August, I have to make it for her. Heh.



After gathering everything I needed to make the strudel dough- the REAL challenge here, I then read and reread the directions, yet again. Heck, I’ve never made this before, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t mess up too badly. You know, like messing up on the measurement of lemon juice for the ricotta. Once was enough, thank you very much.



After mixing the flour and salt in my KitchenAid mixer- which has gotten more use in the last few months than it ever did the first few years I’ve had it, and I’ve had it a good 3-4 years now, and mixing the water, vinegar and oil in a measuring cup, I then added the liquids to the dry, mixed for a minute or two with the paddle attachment, then switched to the dough hook.
You know, I’ve been considering getting rid of my bread machine lately. After all, I only use it to mix the dough in, and haven’t used it to actually BAKE bread in years, and since the KitchenAid has a dough hook, so really, what’s the point? Heh.



Anyway…

As I said, mixed the dough for a bit. Then I turned it out on my work table. Best thing we’ve built by hand in quite sometime, I must say. There, I kneaded and beat the crap out of the dough for at least 2 minutes. The directions say to literally throw the dough down hard, several times. Let me just say- making strudel dough is a great stress reliever. So is making fun of Land of the Lost episodes on the SciFi marathon as I type this entry up on Mark’s computer, 2 days before I actually post it.}:P



After kneading, beating and generally mistreating the defenseless dough, place it on a plate and lightly oil it. I actually used up all my olive oil IN the dough, so had just a few drops to oil it with. Having just the right amount of olive oil for the dough? Yeah, couldn’t have planned that better. Oh, wait… it wasn’t planned. Hee. Anyway, cover the dough and let rest for 30=90 minutes. Audax Artifex said it was better to let it rest overnight, as that’s what he did, and let me just say- he makes me sick}:P I lost count of how many Strudels he made for this challenge, each just as nice and delicious looking as the last. Hmph.

So, while I let the dough rest for 2 hours, I made the filling…



The filling for this first strudel was chicken & apple sausage, redskin potatoes, and red onions. Simple, but yummy.



I chopped everything up into bite sized pieces. Yes, I munched on the sausage as I cut it up. It’s good, what can I say, and I was hungry. Note- don’t make this particular filling while hungry. Bad idea.



I melted half a stick of Kerrygold Garlic & Herb Irish Butter (YUM), then sauteed the red onions until just starting to sweat, added the sausage, and sauteed until thoroughly mixed and hot. Man was my kitchen smelling good by now. Meanwhile, the potatoes were boiled up until mostly cooked, then drained.



I’ve mentioned that I love these recycled melamine bowls my mom in law gave me, haven’t I? They come in handy so much. Hee. Drained the cooked potatoes, then dumped the sausage and onions over the top. I scraped the pan very well, musn’t waste any of that yummy irish butter, after all. Then it all got mixed up thoroughly. Ok, I’ll admit, that I also ate some of the filling for lunch too. Hey, had to make sure it tasted good after all. And I had no guinea pigs- I mean taste testers handy.}:P



After I made the filling, then I got the toasted bread crumb fixings together. I like using panko breadcrumbs. They’re lighter, bigger and just taste nicer to me. Melt the butter in a pan. Keep an eye on it, especially if you use unsalted butter like I did. Maybe it’s just my luck, but, umm, I burned the first bit of butter. So, umm.. yeah.



Melted second batch of butter, kept a closer eye on it. Then dumped in the breadcrumbs. They seem to need to be stirred almost constantly, as they will burn. Luckily, that didn’t happen . Hee. Then, I put them in a bowl and set them aside to wait on the dough to finish its nap… er, finish resting.



Now comes the fun part. I spent way too much time on this piece of PFD Kona Cotton (Prepared For Dyeing), getting every last bit of lint off of both sides. I did all that even before I made the dough or the filling. This was the hardest and longest part of the process. Well, that and rubbing it really well with flour.}:P



So. You place the thoroughly rested dough on the well floured cloth, and you flatten the devil out of it. Seriously. You roll it out as thin as you possibly can with a rolling pin before you even attempt to stretch it. The thinner you can roll it out, the better it’ll stretch in my experience.



After you roll the dough out, then you get to stretch it. Reaching underneath and starting in the center, I gradually pulled the dough towards all four sides, stretching it as much as possible. I was proud of myself in that I managed to get it tissue thin on the first try. And it really wasn’t that hard. The Kona was great for stretching and holding the dough in place. It’s now been designated as nothing but a strudel dough stretching cloth.

Oh, yeah, after stretching to 2 ft wide by 3ft long, trim the thicker edges off.



I melted some more unsalted butter and used my silicon brush to completely coat the dough with the butter. The directions say to use your fingers or a feather pastry brush. I’ve never heard of a feather pastry brush, honestly. Huh. Then, you take the breadcrumbs, which have hopefully thoroughly cooled by now, and sprinkle them over the entire dough. The directions were a bit ambiguous on that part, but yes, it is over the entire dough.

Yes, I spent way too much time making sure the breadcrumbs were spread mostly evenly. I admit it.



After the breadcrumbs, comes the yummy, yummy filling. It gets placed along one end of the dough, roughly 3 inches in from the end, almost all the way across. Th filling, of course, has cooled quite a bit, but that’s ok! You don’t want it really hot, it’d cook the dough as it’s placed on it, before you even roll it up, after all. And yup, still tastes good cooled too.}:P



Then I got to roll it all up. And roll, and roll… I think I got about 3 layers/rolls out of that one piece of stretched dough. Which, from what I understand, is about how many you want.



Then, I very carefully, took the end of the cloth, and rather than even attempting to pick the strudel up to move it, I rolled it over and onto my rectangular baking stone, curved it into a somewhat horseshoe shape, well, I guess that’s a horseshoe shape, heh. After tucking the ends under and thoroughly coating the entire thing in melted butter, I sprinkled the breadcrumbs that fell out of the ends as I rolled the strudel over the entire thing.

And into the oven it went, for roughly 30 minutes.



Dinner is served. We decided that next time, I’m adding feta cheese and serving each slice with a dollop of sour cream on the side. Which, incidentally, we had leftovers the next night and served it with sour cream and yes, it was even better. OmNomNom.

But wait! That’s not all!

The very next day, I made not one, but TWO more strudels…



For one, I used Granny Smith apples, cranberries, raisins and pecans. The other I used a locally made rhubarb pie filling. I love rhubarb. Grew up on it back home. Mark? He’d never had rhubarb. Strange, strange man.



I used my little used apple peeler/corer/slicer thingy for the apples. It took a bit of doing to remember how to use it exactly. Heh. In the end, I had apple juice up both arms AND on the floor.}:P Caena enjoyed it, at least.

I mixed the cranberries and raisins together with good ol’ Capt Morgan’s Spiced Rum and let them sit nearly as long as I let the dough for these strudels rest- just over 2 hours. The cranberries and raisins plumped up nicely, leaving little liquid behind. This might not have been a good thing, incidentally. }:/



To the cinnamon/sugar mix, I added a dash of ginger as well. I also added a splash of lime juice to the apples.

I used pecan because, well... I forgot to get walmuts, as I thought I had some. Whoops. Oh well.



After the apples and cranberries/raisins were mixed together, I set them aside while I took care of the dough. Pretty much the exact same steps as the first strudel, with the exception of the filling.



This time I got a pic of exactly how I moved the strudel to the baking stone. Hee. After buttering the outside well, especially the ends where the edges are tucked under, I sprinkled the whole thing with unrefined Demerara Sugar. Then into the oven for 30 minutes while I made the rhubarb strudel.



The Harrisonburg Shenandoah Heritage Market is a wonderful Farmer’s Market, roughly 2 hrs from me. There’s a ‘store’ in it called ‘Grandma’s Pantry’, run by local Mennonites. Every spice, herb, seasoning, condiment, flour, sugar, baking supply, meats, cheeses, even candy you could think of. Quite a bit homemade, like the rhubarb pie filling. Needless to say, whenever we go, I spend way too much money there. Heh.

Having only one rectangle stone, I had to use my round stone for this strudel. It worked fine too, as this one was thinner than the apple. I also thoroughly buttered this one and sprinkled it with Unrefined Demerara Sugar. Meanwhile, the apple strudel came out of the oven while I was making this one. Then into the oven this one went, for 30 minutes as well.



Both strudels turned out nicely, although, the rhubarb one did managed to spring not one, but 2 leaks. Hmph.

And now… apple strudel and rhubarb strudel photo spam…



I thoroughly enjoyed both sweet strudels. Mark… not so much. I figured he’d not like the rhubarb, having never had it before, but the apple?? That surprised both of us, really. He couldn’t say exactly why he didn’t like it either. I’m thinking it was because it wasn’t an apple pie type of filling.}:/ Oh well, can’t win them all, I guess. Besides, it left more for me to enjoy!

THE RECIPE-

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.

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 polyester;
- 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.

Both Courtney and I did a trial run on making the strudel. Below are our notes:

Courtney's notes
- She couldn't get it to stretch to 2 feet by 3 feet, it turned out more like 2 feet by 2 feet. But the dough was tissue thin nevertheless;
- She got some serious holes, but after rolling it wasn't noticeable;
- She used a large cheese cloth which helped manipulate and stretch the dough more than a heavier cloth would have.

My notes
- I made the dough by hand, just mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Kneaded it for about 5 min like you would bread dough. This worked as well. Haven't tried using a stand mixer so I don't know how it compares.
- Instead of cider vinegar I used red wine vinegar;
- I used bread flour;
- Picking up the dough to let it stretch didn't work well for me, holes appeared pretty much instantly. Instead I stretched the dough while it was lying on the tablecloth by putting my hands underneath and stretching it out further and further