Juana Makes Apple Strudel. Would YOU Try This at Home?
If she sets her mind to it, my friend Juana can do just about anything. When it comes to cooking she's a natural, but even for her, becoming a pro at apple strudel took some doing. She practiced straight for a week, sometimes making three batches a day to get the technique down perfectly.
Anyone who's tried a hand at a "simple" pie knows that dough has a mind of its own. It changes with the weather, so it's at the mercy of both temperature and humidity. If rolling out a pie crust can be daunting, imagine rolling out strudel dough. It has to be so thin that you can read the newspaper through it.
Juana makes strudel just the way my grandmother used to. On a white tablecloth that's been spread out over the kitchen table. First rolling the dough with a rolling pin, then pulling and stretching it with her hands, coaxing the dough to become thinner and thinner. It's a sight to behold!
I'm no Caspar Milquetoast in the kitchen, but to make strudel dough you must be fearless. Just like Juana.
Apple Strudel
Ingredients:
4 ounces tiny white-bread croutons, 1/4 inch cubes
6 ounces melted unsalted butter, approximately
2 pounds, 10 ounces Granny Smith, Pippin or other cooking apples (approximately 6 medium)
3 ounces granulated sugar
6 ounces dark raisins
6 ounces coarsely crushed nuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 ounces firm unsalted butter
12 ounces bread flour
1 egg
2 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
Vegetable oil
Bread flour
Directions:
1. Saute the croutons in 2 ounces melted butter over medium heat until they are golden brown and crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Reserve the croutons and the remaining melted butter separately.
2. Peel and core the apples. Cut them in half lengthwise from the stem end. Cut each half crosswise into thin slices.
3. Combine the sliced apples, granulated sugar, raisins, nuts ground cinnamon, and about half of the croutons. Cut the firm butter into small chunks and gently toss together with the apple mixture. Set aside.
4. Place the flour, egg, soft butter, and salt in a mixer bowl. Mixing with the dough hook at low speed, add enough of the cold water to make a soft dough. Knead the dough at medium speed until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball and coat it with oil. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 1 hour.
5. Cover a work surface measuring approximately 3 x 4 feet with a clean tablecloth. The cloth is used to facilitate stretching and rolling the dough. To prevent the cloth from sliding, fasten it under the table with thumbtacks. Sprinkle bread flour lightly and evenly over the cloth. Place the relaxed dough in the center of the cloth. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to make a small rectangle. then, using first your fingertips and then the top part of your hands, gradually and evenly lift and pull the dough into a thin membrane approximately 40 inches long x 30 inches wide. Let the dough relax and dry on the table for 2-3 minutes.
6. Trim away the thick edge all around as well as any dough that hangs over the edge of the table. Distribute the apple filling next to the long edge of the dough closest to you. Form the filling into a thick rope with your hands. Brush some of the reserved melted (heat if necessary) generously over the remainder of the dough. Sprinkle the remaining croutons over the dough.
7. Remove the thumbtacks to free the cloth. Using the cloth to help lift the dough, roll the strudel, starting from the filling side, into a fairly loose spiral. Place the strudel, seam-side down, in a horseshoe shape on a sheet pan lined with baking paper.
8 Bake at 375 degrees F about 35 minutes, brushing several times with the remaining melted butter and any juices that run out of the pastry. Let the strudel cool slightly, trim the ends, and slice into 16 servings, approximately 2-1/4 inches wide. Sift powdered sugar over the slices. Serve hot or cold with Creme Anglaise or Chantilly cream.
Makes about 16 servings
The Professional Pastry Chef, Bo Friberg, Wiley, 2002
--Tracy Schneider
HopeSew on October 07, 2009 at 08:07 PM
Great photo & story! Wow, Juana is hardcore --with the dial turned to 11. Bravo!