Austrian Style Strudel is a mixture of spiced apples, nuts and raisins wrapped in layers of paper thin dough. Making it is fun and really interesting to watch. Not to mention it tastes amazing when served warm with a melba sauce (raspberry) and french vanilla ice cream to accompany it.
The dough is a simple dough, with plenty of gluten development. It is then allowed to relax for a several hours until it is very relaxed and pillowy in texture.
Prepare your working surface with a clean fuzz-free table cloth and dust with flour. Roll out the dough slightly in a rectangle shape, with the length of the dough along the length of the table.
Rolling out the dough
To stretch the dough out, four people are needed. Each person holds the dough on their knuckles and at the same time very slowly and gently pulls it out towards the edges of the table. And secure the two ends to the edge of the table. The dough should be extremely thin you can read through it.
Stretching the dough
Sprinkle the dough with melted butter. And at the secured end, lay a thin layer of either bread or cake crumbs down. Slice up several apples into thick pieces, combine with cinnamon, some nutmeg, any kind of nuts and raisins if desired and lay this mixture down the line of bread crumbs.
Adding the Apples
To begin rolling up the strudel, grab the end of the table cloth and use this to aide you in rolling up the dough. Once you have rolled it up once, make sure it is straight and continue this process until it is all rolled up. While rolling up the pastry, dust off excess flour and make sure you are rolling evenly on both the left and right sides.
Rolling up the dough
To finish up, pinch off the excess dough and tuck the flap underneath the log. Bake on a parchment lined sheet pan until golden brown. Cool slightly before slicing on a biased. Serve with french vanilla ice cream and melba sauce
*Melba Sauce: Thin out raspberry preserves with a little water, heat then strain.
Plated Austrian Style Strudel
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