Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)

Strudel, what a pain in the butt, but it is totally worth it.

Soft delicious apples, gooey beautiful raisins, and flaky thin pastry. This magnificent apfelstrudel is a dream from Germany.

Makes: 1 strudel log

Takes about: 2 hours and 30 minutes - 3 hours

Difficulty: 4 out of 5 (but worth the challenge)

Prep:

Make the strudel dough an hour and a half in advance - find the recipe here.

Once the dough is prepped, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Ingredients:

Strudel Dough

2 ounces fresh bread crumbs (fresh is better)

1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts - finally chopped

5 large apples - cut into 1/2 inch pieces

14 tablespoons unsalted butter - melted

3/4 cup sugar - plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon - plus 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

5 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions:

- Step 1 - Make Strudel Dough

Make the strudel dough, and as it rests, start the filling.

- Step 2 - Make Bread Crumbs

Place 3 pieces of bread on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 -15 minutes; flipping it every few minutes until crispy.

Once crispy, break the bread into pieces and place them into a food processor and pulse a few times until bread crumbs are made.

- Step 3 - Fry Bread Crumbs

In a small pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter.

Once the butter is melted measure out 2 ounce of fresh bread crumbs (or 2 ounces or store bought bread crumbs) and add them to the melted butter.

Fry the bread crumbs until the bread crumbs soak up the butter and become lightly toasted again.

Transfer to a medium bowl to cool until needed.

- Step 4 - Toast and Chop Hazelnuts

Place 2 hard fulls of hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes or until they start to become fragrant.

If they have the skin in them, roll them around in a paper towel - be careful because they are hot - until the skins start to come off. This should happen easily.

Once cleaned, place the hazelnuts in a food processor and grind up until chopped (a knife also works, but takes a little more time).

Place in a small bowl and set aside until needed.

- Step 5 - Chop Apples

Peal and decore 5 apples and chop them into 1/2 inch pieces.

I enjoy using different types of apples; sweet and sour. I think it adds a lovely favor profile to all apples treats.

Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, Honeycrisp, ect.

- Step 6 - Make Apple Filling

In a large bowl, mix together chopped apples, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon - plus 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 cup of raisins, 5 teaspoons of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Set aside until needed.

- Step 7 - Melt the Rest of the Butter

In a small sauce pan, melt the remaining 11 ounces of butter.

- Step 8 - Roll Out the Dough

The strudel instructions explains how the dough can be rolled out and stretched carefully until paper thin. The dough should then be trimmed and prepped to be filled.

There are a ton of YouTube videos that are helpful in showing how dough can be rolled out.

- Step 9 - Butter the Dough

Using the butter that was melted in step 7, lightly butter the dough until just covered.

The remaining butter will be used for after the strudel has been rolled.

- Step 10 - Sprinkle Bread Crumbs and Chopped Hazelnuts

Sprinkle the 2 ounces of prepped bread crumbs and the 1/3 cup of prepped hazelnuts over the buttered dough.

- Step 11 - Add Apple Feeling

Scoop the apple feeling onto one side of the dough leaving a few inches before the filling and 2 inches on each side.

- Step 12 - Fold and Roll the Dough

Fold the sides of the dough towards the filling and fold the small end of the dough over the top of the strudel.

Moving extremely slowly, roll the dough over the filling until the strudel is completely rolled up.

Small rips may happen, but this is okay - just keep going.

I forgot to tuck in my sides, that is why you can see my filling.

- Step 13 - Moving the Strudel

Roll the strudel onto a piece of parchment paper and move the strudel onto a baking sheet. If the dough has to be bent to fit on a baking sheet, that is alright, just bend the dough slowly and carefully.

- Step 14 - Brush on the Butter

Using the remaining butter that was melted in step 7, butter the strudel extremely well and sprinkle the extra tablespoon of sugar over the top.

- Step 15 - Bake the Strudel

Bake the strudel in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes is up, reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees F and bake the strudel for another 30 minutes or until the strudel is lightly browned and if you can see the apples, they will be tender.

- Step 15 - Let the Strudel Cool

Transfer the strudel to a cooling rack, extremely carefully, and let it cool completely.

- Step 16 - Enjoy This Beast of a Pastry

Transfer the strudel to a cutting board and slice this beauty into your desired thickness.

This recipe was found on "Serious Eats" and was a pretty easy recipe to follow, but a did a few things differently to make it easier for me.