My Mom’s Apple Strudel

Last week, I posted the recipe for my mother’s Cognac Cream Dessert. Feeling nostalgic, I’m posting another recipe from this delightful, energetic, inspiring and wonderful cook: My Mom’s Apple Strudel.

This recipe takes time and benefits from several hands participating in the fun. Here, we have 3 generations all delighting in the process of preparing (and eating!) apple strudel. With the Thanksgiving holiday close at hand, you should get your family in on the action! What a delightful way to spend Thanksgiving Saturday. The apple strudel can be a dessert that evening or breakfast the next morning.

Often people will take an apple-strudel “short-cut” by using phyllo dough (or sometimes even puff pastry). My Mom’s apple strudel recipe is not that! Homemade strudel dough is the best! It’s flaky and crumbly (like phyllo dough), but without all the butter (and layering) that phyllo would need to bake so crisply. In fact, the dough itself if just water, flour and a squeeze of lemon.

Here’s Lucia rolling out the dough onto a floured table-runner, with my approving mother looking on. The table runner has 2 purposes: 1 is to gauge the thinness of the dough — you should see the pattern through the dough as you stretch it thinner and thinner. The second purpose shall be revealed later in this post…stay tuned!

Once the dough has been rolled as thin as you can get it, the family fun begins! We all rub our hands with a neutral oil (grapeseed) so that we can pull and stretch the dough without it sticking to our fingers.

Begin by gently pulling the dough in all directions. Work from the center, out. Center, out. You’ll find the dough is remarkably strong, as long as you work slowly. And if it rips, don’t panic! Stretch on…the rips will be covered when you roll the strudel.

As my mother would say, “we had a ball” making apple strudel. Lucia entertained us by singing the whole time. 

Here, we lift and stretch the dough: look how strong (yet thin!) it is.

Next, we move on to making the filling: apples, cinnamon, lemon zest, walnuts, brown sugar: Lucia suggested, Grandmother approved.

Load up the filling on one end of the dough, and the second purpose of the table runner is now revealed! Lift it up as you roll the dough into a beautiful log!

Serve dusted with powdered sugar and a side of “pppprsssstt” our family word for whipped cream (denoted by the sound it makes coming from the canister.) If you’re like my mom and Lucia the “pppprsssstt” will be at least quadruple the amount pictured above.

My Mom's Apple Strudel

Print Recipe

 : serves 8 Prep Time: 1 hour Cooking Time: 40 minutes 40 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

For the dough:
⅓ cup lukewarm water
½ teaspoon lemon juice (to relax the gluten and make the dough more stretchy)
a pinch of salt
1 cup flour

You'll also need extra flour for sprinkling and a little bit of neutral oil for your hands for when you stretch the dough

For the filling:
⅔ cup almond flour (use walnut flour if you have it. Since almond flour is so readily available, we use that.)
⅓ tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
fresh nutmeg, a few swipes across the Microplane will do (if desired)
a generous handful of golden raisins
, rehydrated in hot water or rum
2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into small slices, and doused with the zest and juice of 2 lemons
a generous handful of walnut pieces
3 tablespoons cold butter, grated on a box grater

you'll also need:

2 tablespoons melted butter for brushing the dough
powdered sugar for dusting
whipped cream for serving (whip yours with just a little vanilla bean paste for sweetness)

Instructions

Make the dough by mixing the water, lemon, lemon, and salt in a big bowl. Stir in about half the flour until well combined. Gradually add the remaining flour until it just comes together. Turn onto a floured surface and knead the dough, until smooth (about 10 minutes). Pretend you're on the Great British Baking Show and slam the dough onto the work surface a few times (to develop the gluten.)

Shape the dough into a ball, and using your fingers, gently rub a bit of neutral oil (like grapeseed) around the dough. Pop it into a covered container and let it sit for an hour at room temperature.

Make the filling by combining the almond flour (for soaking up any juices), brown sugar and spices in a large bowl. Add the raisins, apples, lemon zest, and juice, walnuts and butter.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

When it's ready, stretch the dough by first rolling it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. Flour the surface and the dough as needed. When the dough gets about 13-15 inches in diameter, call in the troops! Remove jewelry and oil your hands. One person will begin by picking up the dough. Use the back of your hands to stretch it, like a pizza. As the dough gets bigger and thinner, grab some friends! Place it down on a lightly floured cloth. Continue stretching the dough using your hands. Work from the center to the outsides, al the way around the sheet of dough. Stretch it until it starts to look translucent — you should be able to notice the pattern of your cloth through the dough. The sheet of dough should be stretched into a rectangular shape, with the short end fitting the baking sheet lengthwise. 

Brush the dough with melted butter. Spread the filling across one end of the dough, leaving about an inch to the edge. Using the cloth or table runner, roll the dough, starting at the apple-end. Gently roll the strudel onto a parchment-lined baking sheet with the seam-side down. Brush the top with melted butter.

Bake the strudel in the middle of your oven for about 40 minutes (start checking after 30). The kitchen should smell heavenly and the strudel should have a gorgeous golden crust. Serve dusted with powdered sugar. A plop of whipped cream (or several if you're like my Mom) is all it needs.