APPLE strudel – an old, but easy recipe dating back more than 300 years.
We are coming to the last weeks of the apple season, with pickers expected to finish the late season harvest early next month.
They are a fabulously diverse fruit, useful in both sweet and savoury dishes, from apple pies or sauce for roast pork, to toffee apples to salads.
This week’s recipe is one which is thought to date back to the Middle Ages, its origins believed to be the Austro-Hungarian countries of Europe.
In fact, the earliest known recipe for apple strudel is dated in 1697, handwritten in a Viennese cookbook.
It can still be seen in the Vienna Town Hall Library.
Best apples for this are Braeburn, Fuji, Jonathan, Granny Smith – anything which holds its shape reasonably well when cooked. It is important not to cut the slices too large, which will put the cooking times out of kilter.
The pastry used for this depends on your level of deftness to a degree if you choose to make it yourself.
To get the proper light and many layered look, you can use phyllo (filo) pastry. Or as I do because it’s quick and easy (and still tastes great), use refrigerated (thawed) puff pastry baking sheets – this part is important; to cook well, the pastry needs to be chilled.
You can also tweak the recipe by adding your own favourite spices from allspice, cardamom to nutmeg.
Either way, this is a great recipe and easy enough for kids to make.
Apple Strudel
Three apples, peeled and sliced half a cm thick
One cup brown sugar
One tsp vanilla
One tsp lemon juice
One tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
Three Tbsp all-purpose flour
½ cup raisins or sultanas
Puff pastry sheets
One egg, quarter cup milk for egg wash.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and stir just until evenly coated.
On a tray lined with baking paper, place pastry sheet. Place apple mixture (lengthwise) not using too much, but enough to be able to fold the dough over it and roll over until the seam lies underneath, once the edges are pressed together. Use water to do that if needed.
Brush the top with an egg wash made from a beaten egg and ¼ cup milk, which will help give it the lovely glossy finish you need. Sprinkle the top with sugar.
Make sure you use a sharp knife to put slices for airvents into the pastry at the top, this helps the pastry to cook lightly. Bake at 175C for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting.
You can sprinkle the top with icing sugar.
