Apple Blueberry Strudel

As authentic as “schnitzel with noodles”, German/Austrian Strudel is perhaps the most beloved of desserts of the region. Apple is the most traditional filling, sweetened and rolled in the thinnest pastry possible. The addition of raisins is traditional, but blueberries make a plumper and a bit sweeter addition. And if you make the pastry yourself, you should be mightily impressed with yourself - make sure you tell your guests you made it from scratch!

Apple Blueberry Strudel

FOR THE PASTRY: (This is the authentic pastry. See shortcut pastries in “Notes” below)

1 ½ cups unbleached bread flour, plus more for work surface

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus some for for bowl

1/2 teaspopon white vinegar

Warm water

-Stir the flour and salt together in a bowl of an electric mixer. Briefly beat the oil and egg together with a fork in a 1 cup measuring cup, then add enough warm water to make 2/3s of a cup.

-On low speed, mix the liquid into the flour briefly, until no flour remains on the sides of the bowl. Attach the dough hook then mix the dough on low speed until it begins to hold together, about 5 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and let knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, another 5 minutes.

-With a spatula, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead by hand for 1 minute. Coat a small bowl with a bit of oil then turn the dough about in the bowl until it is oiled all over and place the smoothest side up in the bowl. Cover the surface of the dough with plastic wrap then let rest for at least one hour at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Apple Blueberry Filling

3/4 cup salted butter, melted

2/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs

2 lbs (about 6 medium apples) apples peeled, cored, and thinly sliced. *See note below.

2/3 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Powdered sugar for dusting

Ice Cream or Creme Anglaise for serving

-Combine apples, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and blueberries in a medium saucepan. Add 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for about 5 minutes. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour filling into a bowl and stir in the nuts, if used; let mixture cool to room temperature.

-In a small saute pan, melt 5 tablespoons butter and add breadcrumbs. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until toasted and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Wipe pan clean and melt the remaining butter; set butter aside to cool.

To Assemble the Strudel:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack positioned in the middle of the oven. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with a double thickness of parchment paper.

-Cover your kitchen table or large counter space with a large, clean, cotton dishtowel (not terrycloth) or sheet.  Dust with flour.

-Turn the dough out onto a counter top and knead it a few times, then shape it into a rough oblong. Place it in the middle of the floured cloth, flatten dough out with the palms of you hand then dust dough lightly with flour. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as you can in every direction.

-Slide both hands, backs of hands facing up, under the dough, toward the center (hands should be in between the dough and the cloth). Then carefully, lift the dough off the cloth with your knuckles, and begin stretching from the center out to the edges until it is too large to stretch easily with your hands. Carefully set dough back on the cloth, smoothing out any wrinkles or folds with your palms. Don’t panic if there are some holes in your dough - it won’t mater once it’s assembled.

-Repeat this process of stretching with the backs of your hands, pulling the dough in all directions, trying to keep it in a rectangular shape, until the dough is so paper thin, that you could almost read the recipe through it! (the edges will have thicker dough which you can trim off to create a more rectangular shape anyway.) Once you have finished stretching the dough, let it rest for about 10 minutes.

-Using a knife, kitchen sheers or a pizza cutter, trim off the thick edges until the dough is roughly 24-by-30-inches.

-Dip a pastry brush in the melted butter, then drizzle about 1/4 cup of the butter over the entire surface of the dough by waving the pastry brush back and forth. Next, sprinkle the surface with the breadcrumb mixture. Finally, dollop the filling all over the surface. Gently spread the filling to create a fairly even layer but it doesn’t need to be perfectly and evenly spread.

-Working with one of the shorter sides, gently hold the dough and roll it up into a tight spiral. Use the tablecloth to help you roll by lifting the edge of the table cloth to roll the strudel up tightly (or use the flats of your palms to roll it if that is easier. You want it to roll up quite tightly.) Roll the dough completely up, encasing the filling, tucking in the side edges as you roll to keep the filling from leaking out of the ends.

-Place both hands under the rolled strudel and gently lift and place it diagonally on the prepared baking sheet, lined with parchment paper, seam side down. If it’s too long to fit, you can bend it back on itself, keeping it open enough so that the sides of the pastry roll don’t touch one another.

-Brush the outside of the strudel with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with Turbinado or Demerara sugar or even regular brown sugar for a nice added crunch.

-Bake until the exterior of the strudel is deeply golden brown, 30 to 34 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking so that the strudel browns more evenly. Remove from the oven and dust with powdered sugar. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Makes 8 - 10 servings. Serve with sweetened whipped cream, vanilla ice cream or Sauce Anglaise (recipe below).

PERSNICKETY NOTES:

*For Shortcut Pastries: You can use frozen Puff Pastry Sheets or Fillo (Phyllo) Pastry, which both give excellent results. Both of these pastries are sold in the freezer section, near the frozen pie crusts, in most US grocery stores.

For the Puff Pastry, remove both sheets from the frozen container and let rest about 20 - 30 minutes. Open the pastry and lay flat on a lightly floured counter, the 2 pastry sheets, side be side and slightly overlapping. Roll out to as thin as you can get it, making sure to press to seal the seam between the two pieces. Then use the rolled out pastry as described in the recipe above. (The puff pastry actually makes a flakier crust than the authentic recipe.)

For the Fillo Pastry: Lay out one wrapped fillo pastry package and let thaw for 1 - 2 hours until no longer cold. Open the package and lay out the sheets on your counter. Carefully remove 2 sheets of the paper thin pastry from the pile and set on the counter in front of you. Generously spread melted butter over the complete surface. Then add another 2 sheets on top of the first two buttered sheets and butter those in the same fashion. Continue until you hae used a total of 12 - 14 sheets of fillo pastry. Then follow the recipe above to add the filling and roll the strudel.

*Best Apples to use for Strudel: Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Honey Crisp apples are all good choices for strudel. Firm, crisp apples with a sweet and tart flavor hold their shape while baking and don’t become as mushy. The sweet/tart flavor creates a nice contrast of flavors in finished baked apple desserts.

*Rest the dough: If the dough keeps bouncing back when you try to stretch it, try covering it with a damp cloth and let it rest for 5 minutes before trying again. Sometimes the gluten just needs to relax for a few minutes.

*SAUCE ANGLAISE RECIPE (Custard Sauce):

½ cup whole milk, ½ cup whipping cream, 1 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 large egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar

-Combine milk and cream in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean (or extract if used). Bring milk mixture to simmer. Remove from heat.

-Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return custard to saucepan. Stir over low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Strain sauce into bowl. Cover and chill. (Can be made 1 day ahead.) Makes 1 cup

Peel, core and cut apples into small pieces.

Add sugars, spices, apples, water and blueberries to a small saucepan and cook until fruit is softer and sauce is thickened.

Roll and stretch out dough to as thin as possible on a cotton dishtowel or sheet, drizzle with butter and sprinkle breadcrumbs over.

Dollop filling over the surface of the strudel dough.

Beginning at a short edge, roll first with your fingertips to create a tight spiral, then continue to roll, using the cloth to help, by lifting and letting the pastry roll over and enclose the filling.

Roll up strudel to the end, tucking in the edges as you go, then lay it on the seam.

Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden, then dust with powdered sugar.

Let strudel rest about 15 minutes before slicing into 1 - 2 inch slices and serving.

Serve strudel with ice cream, sweetened whipped cream or to be most authentic, with Creme Anglaise.