Strudel

Studel may sound scary if you have never made the pastry before but it is a surprisingly enjoyable task particularly for children. I recently attended the workshop by Rose Levy Beranbaum at the Melbourne MasterClass on strudel. The dough only takes a few minutes to mix and knead. It is then rested before being stretched. The recipe below is adapted from the recipe Rose' demonstrated.

145g hard flour (not bakers or self raising)
approx 80 ml warm water
2 g salt
20 ml vegetable oil

Make a well with the flour and salt on a counter. Add the water and oil and mix together kneading lightly until the mixture becomes silky. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic film and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes. This will allow the gluten to relax.

During this time you can make the filling. While apple is traditional, it can be complemented by so many other ingredients such as walnuts or hazelnuts, rhubarb or figs. The combination of breadcrumbs, salt and sugar is referred to as Brusel. This provides the starch that soaks up the juices of the apple.

Brusel
10 g salt
30 g fresh bread crumbs
5 g sugar

These should be combined together in a frypan until golden.

Apple and Walnut Filling
3 medium apples, peeled and cored and sliced to 1mm
juice of one lemon
50 g sugar
2 g cinnamon pinch of salt
30g of toasted walnuts

Combine all the ingredients and leave to macerate for at least 30 minutes.

Stretching
When it comes to stretching the studel you will need a large table or as the pastry will stretch to over a metre in diameter. You can start as if you are shaping a pizza base by just stretching it in the air with your hands. After a few stretches place the dough on the table (which ideally should be clean and lightly floured) and start to gently pull. Rose prefers to slip her hands "palm sides down" under the dough and gently stretch without tearing working around in a circle.

Toss the apple mixture through the busel just prior placing on the pastry. As you roll the strudel, dab each layer with a light coating of butter. The strudel can now be cooked in a hot oven of 200 C for 35 minutes