Overflown with apples or just seeking something intriguing? Check out this Apple strudel recipe that is a dessert worth pursuing!

Apple strudel is a type of apple pie from the late Astro-Hungarian empire (the one who made Sacher torte, Dobos torte, or Gerbeaud cake (they also started WWI but that’s a different topic).

The “strudel” itself is a German word that means “swirl” or “whirlpool” and it is meant to describe the technique, the dessert is made as it is rolled up similarly to chocolate swirl bread or cinnamon swirl bread.

Homemade apple strudel isn’t the faint of hearts and it requires a somewhat special equipment which is a large, roughly spun, cotton tablecloth. Traditionally, the table cloth is handed down from mother to daughter through generations and without one, strudel making was not just to doomed to fail but deemed impossible.

Luckily, nowadays in the era of industrialized food production, refrigeration, and extensive transport possibilities, we don’t have to go through all the loops if we are willing to make some compromises.

The pastry, that carries the apple filling, shares its roots with the Ottoman Empire’s pastry which many of us know by the name “baklava.” This is the same baklava that is called “Filo or phyllo pastry” in Greece and still holds debates about its Turkish or Greek origin.

Thanks to the conquering nature of the Turks, the pastry made its way to Hungarian cuisine through Turkish occupation then it became a nationwide favorite when the Astro-Hungarian empire was reunited again.

So, if we aren’t really into learning the intricacies of homemade apple strudel then taking shortcuts and stocking up with filo – phyllo pastry will save the day just fine. On top of that if we have never tried real apple strudel before then we can even forgo filo pastry and go with puff pastry.

Although puff pastry and filo – phyllo pastry will behave nothing alike and it will provide a completely different experience, apple strudel beginners actually prefer it, since it needs substantially less effort and can come out looking much prettier.

If we are on any kind of diet though, investing into our filo – phyllo pastry skills will probably be a much-praised effort, since it contains way less calories, due to the sheer amount of pastry we work with.

Although apple strudel is the most well-known strudel, there is more where strudels come from. Most likely anyone with gluten tolerance can find their favorite that are ranging from sweet to sour and anything in between.

Sour cherry, cabbage, summer squash with poppy seed, or cottage cheese fillings are just few of the many that are well known ingredients in strudel, countries around the world. Of course, there are various meat or cheese or both filled strudels which could be somewhat familiar to those who ever tried spanakopita but those aren’t really belong to the dessert category so we can skip them for now.

Once we get our strudel game rolling, there will be no turning back. Sure, there will be some hiccups (like not using enough filo sheets) and disappointments (hazelnut spread is not suitable for baking at high temperatures) but at the end, we’ll always end up with something tasty that goes to the heart.

If we really feel adventurous and want to try the real deal but haven’t yet received the family heirloom strudel cloth, fear not and use a somewhat rougher spun 100% cotton tablecloth or alternatively a nice and clean cotton bed-sheet. In any way happy rolling!

Ingredients

Beginner – Puff pastry

(makes 2)

2 sheets / 500g Puff pastry dough
8 medium / 1000g Apple (cored and peeled)
2 teaspoon / 5g Cinnamon
1 piece / 100ml Lemon’s juice
1 medium / 55g Egg (for eggwash)
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Advanced – Filo – Phyllo pastry

(makes 2 – 5 rolls)

10 sheets / 250g Filo – Phyllo dough
1 tablespoon / 15ml Cooking oil
8 medium / 1000g Apple (cored and peeled)
2 teaspoon / 5g Cinnamon
1 piece / 100ml Lemon’s juice
¼ / 50ml Sour cream (optional)
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Overkill – Traditional homemade strudel

(makes a lot)

7 cups / 800g Flour
2¼ cup / 500ml Water (tepid)
½ teaspoon / 3g Salt

Filling options

(for the lot of homemade strudel)

Apple cinnamon

4 medium / 500g Apple (cored and peeled)
1 teaspoon / 2.5g Cinnamon
½ piece / 50ml Lemon’s juice
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Zucchini poppy seed

4½ cups / 500g Zucchini (shredded)
1 cup / 100g Poppy seed (finely ground)
1 piece / 10g Lemon’s zest
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Sour cherry poppy seed

3 cups / 550g Sour cherry
1 cup / 100g Poppy seed (finely ground)
1 piece / 10g Lemon’s zest
Sweetener to taste (optional)

Cottage cheese

2 cups / 500g Cottage cheese (dry, squeeze if necessary or add flour)
1 teaspoon / 5ml Vanilla extract
2 medium / 100g Egg
1 cup / 250ml Sour cream
3 tablespoons / 45ml Honey or sweetener of choice to taste

How to make Apple strudel

Beginner – Puff pastry

Peel and cut the apples up into chunks.
Sprinkle it with cinnamon. If any additional sweetener is used, this is the time to add it.
Roll the puff pastry out and place it onto a parchment paper. It generally comes one wrapped around it so use that.
Arrange the apples across the dough like a log, covering the middle third of the puff pastry.
Cut the upper and lower part of the dough up into about frac14;” / 1cm wide stripes. Mind not to get too close to the middle where the heap of apples reside.
Fold the stripes up, alternating each side until the whole dough is closed up.
Brush it with egg-wash.
Place the beginner apple strudel onto the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 – 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Advanced – Filo pastry

Peel and grate the apples. To prevent browning, mix the grated apple with lemon juice as soon as possible. Optionally, use apples cut into chunks.
Squeeze out as much liquid as possible by hand then mix the apple with cinnamon.
Filo – phyllo dough needs some care and attention while working with it. Once opened, place a damp kitchen cloth over them to prevent from drying out. Take one filo sheet out then brush it very lightly with oil.
We can use 2 – 4 layers for each roll of strudel. More layers equals more crust and more crunchiness when fresh from the oven but given enough time both will soften up. Each layer has to be lightly brushed with oil.
Place lumps of apples, about the size of a tablespoon, onto about ¾ part of the dough. Each roll can hold about 7oz / 200g filling comfortably from any type of filling. Keep about 2″ / 5cm distance between the lumps and mind that the rows next to each other are alternating and not covering one another.
Drizzle optional shaken up sour cream on top.
Roll the dough up starting from the side where the fillings are close to the edge.
If chunks of apple is used, the process is the same.
Place the rolled up apple strudel onto a parchment lined baking sheet then brush them with egg-wash.
Bake the filo dough apple strudels on the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Overkill – Traditional

Knead the dough until it comes together into a uniform texture.
Place the dough onto a floured surface.
Knead and divide into equal balls, we made 8 here. Cover and let them rest until the fillings are prepared.
Prepare the filling. Let’s try something wild: summer squash with poppy seed, sour cherry with poppy seed and cottage cheese with raisins and honey.
Roll out one dough into a 4″ / 10cm disc. Brush some sour cream on top.
Pick to dough up and stretch it by letting gravity do its thing.
Put it back onto the table and stretch it further by hand. Check out: How to stretch strudel dough
Place lumps of filling, about the size of a tablespoon, onto about ¾ part of the dough. Keep about 2″ / 5cm distance between the lumps and mind that the rows next to each other are alternating and not covering one another. Drizzle optional shaken up sour cream on top.
Roll the dough up, starting from the side where the fillings are close to the edge using the table cloth. If the dough doesn’t want to roll, a special technique called jumping the dough must be initiated, which is a slight yank of the cloth so a bit of extra momentum is given the dough for moving. Check out: How to roll Strudel up
Cut the strudel into the size of the baking tray.
Place the strudels into the parchment paper lined or lightly oiled baking tray. Brush them with more sour cream.
Place the strudels on the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.