Recipe Requested Your Oma’s Strudel recipe

[NameAlreadyTaken]

it does not have to be 100% authentic to be good IMO!

looks great!

Well that’s lucky because I was using a couple of secret cheats from a Northern Italian Nonna:
Home made apricot jam as a fine coating on the inside of the pastry and sponge cake crumbs instead of breadcrumbs…… not traditional, but full points for flavour!

 

[MarcelNL]

I bet that is a great addition, as well as any nuts, to raisin or not to raisin, Stroh or any other rum....

1 main aspect IS however mandatory, the vanilla custard....not that ready made stuff but eggy goodness with great vanille and plenty of it!....the Strudel needs to SWIM in it.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Okay, that’s a good point that I hadn’t considered in my quest for a nostalgic strudel. The accompaniments. So, contentious question for anyone:
What is the optimal accompaniment(s) for strudel (let’s say apple, but if it’s different for different types of strudel, I’m interested in that too):
A) Proper egg vanilla custard
B) Vanilla bean ice cream
C) Thick cream
D) whipped cream
E) Cinnamon ice cream (I had that once and it was surprisingly good)
F) Anything else?

 

[Corradobrit1]

Okay, that’s a good point that I hadn’t considered in my quest for a nostalgic strudel. The accompaniments. So, contentious question for anyone:
What is the optimal accompaniment(s) for strudel (let’s say apple, but if it’s different for different types of strudel, I’m interested in that too):
A) Proper egg vanilla custard
B) Vanilla bean ice cream
C) Thick cream
D) whipped cream
E) Cinnamon ice cream (I had that once and it was surprisingly good)
F) Anything else?

A or C (D if desperate). Anything else

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Hmm. I’ll bow to the superior experience. I think it’s mainly been ice cream that I’ve seen out here (probably a climate thing).
I’ll have to give a proper custard a go.
I just want to make sure I get this right though, are we talking about a German style “vanilla sauce” or an English style “custard”?

 

[Corradobrit1]

Def veer towards the continental style vanilla sauce. The English version I find too thick and cloying.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Cool. That’s what I thought. So thick cream but still a runny sauce with a n easy pour?

 

[MarcelNL]

Cool. That’s what I thought. So thick cream but still a runny sauce with a n easy pour?

yep, and in Vorarlberg they sometimes add lightly beaten cream on the other side of the Strudel for some additional calories....

Farming in the mountains is hard labor, hence the many calory rich foods...the started at 6:30 or so with a small breakfast (could have been a schnapps and a piece of speck), another one at 09:30ish, Hot meal at noon, jausen around 15:00, Abendbrot at 18:00 and a little something around 21:00

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

yep, and in Vorarlberg they sometimes add lightly beaten cream on the other side of the Strudel for some additional calories....

Farming in the mountains is hard labor, hence the many calory rich foods...the started at 6:30 or so with a small breakfast (could have been a schnapps and a piece of speck), another one at 09:30ish, Hot meal at noon, jausen around 15:00, Abendbrot at 18:00 and a little something around 21:00

Schnapps for breakfast! That’s impressive fortitude.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Back again with a couple of follow up questions about the pastry.
This is my second attempt with the noodle dough / thin reading newspaper print through it. I’ve used soft low protein flour because I was hoping for a flakey / crumbly texture.
So my questions to anyone who might know a bit more than me:
- I’ve got thin layers, but it’s still quite a hard crisp exterior despite the low protein flour. Is this normal? How far off does this look compared to traditional versions?
- I’ve got it so thin I can see through it, but when I put it down on a floured table top, it kind of springs back. Is the floured tea towel / table cloth about trying to keep the stretched dough stretched out?
- I haven’t had much success achieving a rectangular / elliptical dough stretch regardless of starting with a long rectangle, so my strudels end up more like thin snakes. Any suggestions on stretching techniques to end up with short / long edges?
- I thought that I had painted with enough melted butter but the dough just soaks it up. Is it expected to be using a heap of butter, or am I doing something wrong with the dough prep?

Many thanks in advance!

PS - the filling remains unchanged, it’s perfect.

 

[Michi]

Just from the look of it, it seems a bit dry. More butter is better!

The cloth is there to help keep the dough stretched, yes. I've never done this myself, but watched my grandma make it in Munich many, many years ago.

I would use bread flour instead of cake flour. The idea is to have really strong gluten, which is what allows the dough to be stretched without tearing.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Cheers mate. I’ll give that a crack next time. That’s going to be quite a lot of butter….. I’m guessing the goal is for it to have enough butter to essentially fry the noodle dough?
The dough ends up firmer than puff pastry and a bit firmer than filo pastry. Is that right?

 

[Michi]

That’s going to be quite a lot of butter….. I’m guessing the goal is for it to have enough butter to essentially fry the noodle dough?
The dough ends up firmer than puff pastry and a bit firmer than filo pastry. Is that right?

I believe so. I remember that the strudel I've eaten in Germany has quite a shiny and somewhat fatty texture to it. (I'm not much of a sweets person, so I'm not the expert here.)

The dough is definitely more robust than filo pastry. I'd say it is slightly firmer than puff pastry, too, but not a whole lot.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Well that’s good! I’m only three sticks of butter off!

 

[MarcelNL]

BUTTER, in Capitals makes the Strudel crust....generous amounts on the sheet when rolled out , indeed bread flour as Michi mentioned and a GENEROUS amount of clarified butter on the outside

You'll note that the recipe does not specify how much butter, I think that is for a good reason ;-)

• 200 g glattes Mehl
• 20 ml Öl
• Salz
• Ca. 125 ml lauwarmes Wasser
• Mehl zum Ausarbeiten
• Zerlassene Butter oder Öl zum Bestreichen

 

[Corradobrit1]

PS - the filling remains unchanged, it’s perfect.

Heading to the Harz mountains next weekend for some hiking and wild camping. I will be passing through Goslar with a pit stop for some Strudel. Any specific questions you want me to ask?

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

BUTTER, in Capitals makes the Strudel crust....generous amounts on the sheet when rolled out , indeed bread flour as Michi mentioned and a GENEROUS amount of clarified butter on the outside

You'll note that the recipe does not specify how much butter, I think that is for a good reason ;-)

• 200 g glattes Mehl
• 20 ml Öl
• Salz
• Ca. 125 ml lauwarmes Wasser
• Mehl zum Ausarbeiten
• Zerlassene Butter oder Öl zum Bestreichen

Thanks! I’ll keep adding until I get the right mix…… I may need a larger pastry brush….

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Heading to the Harz mountains next weekend for some hiking and wild camping. I will be passing through Goslar with a pit stop for some Strudel. Any specific questions you want me to ask?

Ohh yes please!
- Any suggestions for stretching the dough out and ending up with something oblong / rectangular? Mine seem to end up quite circular despite starting with a long rectangle.
- What type of protein content do they use for the flour in the pastry?
- What do they use rather than a tablecloth, to maintain the stretch of the dough for filling?

 

[MarcelNL]

it's all in the hands, you shape and stretch the dough with the back of your hands and knuckles. It is less difficult than it initially seems but getting good at it takes a while.
(took me like two years of getting the hang of manually drawing out pizza's without mangling the outer ring)

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

it's all in the hands, you shape and stretch the dough with the back of your hands and knuckles. It is less difficult than it initially seems but getting good at it takes a while.
(took me like two years of getting the hang of manually drawing out pizza's without mangling the outer ring)

Thanks. I definitely need more practice. I’ve got good thinness so far, but just don’t seem to be able to control the shape that the stretched sheet ends up as. I’m guessing it might be the amount of “shuffle” in one’s hands that might be the difference on the short edge versus the long edge? Ie more shorter shuffling movements and slightly less fist separation on the shorter edge?

 

[Corradobrit1]

Take a look what this guy does with the pastry. Might be a steep learning curve to get the right 'stretch'

 

[MarcelNL]

pastry at Demel....sigh...
shaping the dough is something that takes time to learn, on the good side; you get a palatable strudel even when things do not work out perfectly.

ALso, don't be afraid, you won't be making a meter long strudel so the dough is more user friendly!

 

[MarcelNL]

Thanks. I definitely need more practice. I’ve got good thinness so far, but just don’t seem to be able to control the shape that the stretched sheet ends up as. I’m guessing it might be the amount of “shuffle” in one’s hands that might be the difference on the short edge versus the long edge? Ie more shorter shuffling movements and slightly less fist separation on the shorter edge?

just watch some videos, the one from demel is a good guide IMO. you can pull the dough to a square shape as it's pretty forgiving.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Nice to see you, to see you, nice.....The few Brits here will remember this essential peak time Sat night viewing in the 80's and 90's.
Jump to 27:00 for the tossing.....

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Take a look what this guy does with the pastry. Might be a steep learning curve to get the right 'stretch'

Wow. Killer video.
I’m not worlds away, except for maybe not having 40 years experience…..
He added an egg to his dough which I wasn’t doing, is that recommended?
Also, I notice that his mega long one isn’t actually wrapped / rolled heaps? How many times should I be aiming for to roll it? I think my previous one maybe rolled up six times, but rewatching that video, I’m guessing the aim is to keep the pastry and the number of rolls to a minimum (maybe three complete rolls)?

 

[MarcelNL]

I do not know about the egg, that may be a 'improve richness' addition...
Three times rolled up is also how I know it, not a law but it seems to work.

From my experience making pizza by hand it's the flour that makes all the difference for us mortals without 30 years of experience. I'd be inclined to use something like Caputo Manitoba (high W number) for this but we some resident master bakers (@Michi ) that can probably say more about that.

 

[Michi]

I'd be inclined to use something like Caputo Manitoba (high W number) for this but we some resident master bakers (@Michi ) that can probably say more about that.

Thank you for the compliment, but I'm far from being an expert.

As to high protein content, Caputo Manitoba is way up there. Failing that, King Arthur bread flour (which I have never used myself because it is not available here) would probably do a fine job, too. Any high-quality pizza flour would be fine as well, I'm sure.

Some recipes call for the addition of an egg, or just an egg yolk. I don't believe that this would make much of a difference to the structure of the dough, but would affect colour and mouth feel, to some extent.

I'm not particularly fond of sweets, and I haven't eaten an Apfelstrudel in probably twenty years or so. After all this discussion, I'm now tempted to make it, just to see what will happen.

This forum is evil…

 

[MarcelNL]

I also made the promise to make one this week, trying the Caputo Cuoco flour...

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Okay, well I sincerely apologise for drawing more people into the whirlpool that has become my goal of mastering a good Apple strudel.
We’ve been making one a week solidly for a month and a half. And I’ll keep going until I’m happy.
I’ll give the Caputo pizza flour that I’ve got a shot next and report back. I might try without the egg first and then once I’m happy with the pastry process maybe trial adding a yolk in.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Apologies for the delay. It’s been school holidays over here. Today’s attempt.

So this one was with Caputo Cuoco flour which has yielded a much better result. Good flakiness, and stretched quite thin:

So I’m slowly getting the hang of it. My three year old thinks it’s amazing using the dining table for rolling the strudel.

So question time:
- I’ve still not been able to locate the Manitoba blend of flour locally, is that one going to be a higher protein content than the Cuoco?
- Despite what it looks like cooked, that pastry was heavily basted both sides with butter to at least a 50% : 50% butter pastry ratio (volume for volume). The pastry now cooked has great flakiness, and tastes quite like puff pastry (or if I’m honest more like cheap bakery croissants), but it doesn’t really have any lustre, or sheen, which makes me think I might need to baste mid bake?
- The filling is a bit liquid, which I’m guessing is worth adding more crumbs and trying to get less air inside while rolling?