Johann s Apfelstrudel Apple Strudel As with most things that I cook, I cheat. To do the whole thing from scratch, you would have to make the dough and I m too lazy for that because I know I can buy it ready made and frozen at a nearby grocery store. Of course, I could also buy the Strudel already made but then I wouldn t be able to say I made it with my all my silly ideas.
Also, I m a big Beethoven and Mozart fan and in Vienna they tell me that both of the composers liked Apple strudel. Ingredients: 1. One package of Fillo (or Phyllo) Dough 2. 1 can, Butter flavored Cooking Spray 3. 3 Cooking Apples and 1 Pear.or 4 Apples 4. 2 Lemons 5. 2 tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar 6. ¼ cup Brown Sugar 7. ½ cup Sugar 8. ¾ cup Raisins 9. ½ cup Coñac..or Dark Rum 10. 1 cup Walnuts 11. 4 or 5 Chocolate Chip Cookies 12. ½ cup Powdered Sugar 13. 1 Egg 14. Vanilla Ice Cream 15. 1 Can of Whipped Cream Topping 16. Caramel or Butterscotch Topping or Syrup 17. 1 Cup Apple Juice 18. ½ cup Butter or Margarine 19. A small package of Nut Topping..anything but peanuts..no peanuts
Scratch around and gather a nice pile of the things that you might expect to find in Apple Strudel and see how they look. Put the raisins in a bowel and cover them with the Coñac or Rum.
Apple Juice. Add the Microwave this little mess for about a minuet or two.removes the alcohol and flavors the Raisins.
Scrap the Zest (peel) off the Lemons with whatever kind of Zest scraper you have. Juice out of the Lemons. Squeeze the
with the Zest. And pour it in Core the Apples and the Pear. Pears are a little sweeter than Apples and that's why I like to add them.
Chop them up into little chunks and dump them in with the Lemon stuff. Raisins. Add the
Add the Walnuts. In this case, I found some that were toasted and Sugar coated. In Vienna, sometimes Hazel Nuts are used I had Walnuts. Crumble in the Cookies. You could use other kinds of sweet Cookies if you don t have Chocolate Chip. I have Chocolate Chip today.
Sugar. Add the Brown Add the Cinnamon and White Sugar. I know this seems like a lot of sugar. I once decided to make a Pumpkin Pie from a Halloween Pumpkin. I thought the recipe called for too much Sugar so cut it in half. The Pie tasted like a Gourd and was inedible.
About now, I use a metal spatula or whatever I can find that has a flat end, and I jab and poke and mix and cut and poke and jab some more to make all the pieces smaller and mix it all up real good. Add the Margarine or Butter. Once in a while I like a little real Butter but most of the time, I consider Cholesterol caution.
Microwave it all for two or three minuets or until the Margarine is all melted and the whole thing feels hot and soft...a little mushy. I ve seen this done by much better methods than mine by professional bakers in Germany, who do it all day, but this is my method and it s ok for once in a while bakers like me. Lay out a towel and then a sheet of wax paper on top of the towel.
In this box of dough, the sheets are rolled between sheets of wax paper. Thaw the Fillo Dough in the fridge overnight, take it out and let it reach room temperature. Unroll a sheet of the Fillo Dough on the wax paper. The dough is very delicate so you have to bite you lip a little bit and tilt one foot up on its toes a little and be very, very nervous and careful. Then you get the Butter Flavored Cooking Spray out.
cover the sheet of dough. Completely I think there were about 5 or 6 sheets of dough to a roll.
Lay out the next sheet of Dough, as close to exactly as you can, directly over (lined up with) the first sheet. the Butter Flavored Spray again. Do the same with
Keep doing this until you have used all the sheets in a roll, or about 5 or 6, and all are thoroughly covered with the Butter Spray. You may or may not have to do this. You don t want the filling to goo-up the dough so that it will break when you roll it, so if you notice liquid in the filling (opps! I have put a little too much Apple Juice and Coñac in the Raisins), strain it off. If you want, you can latter dribble the liquid on the finished product just before you squirt the Whipped Cream or just drink it.
Pour a line of filling long ways down the middle of the Dough. If the filling still seems too wet, you could crumble a few more Cookies on it to soak up the liquid.
of the Dough over the Filling. Fold one side other side in the opposite direction. Now fold the When you have a nice consistent roll, fold the ends over to seal in the filling.
Just as you did with the dough, fold one side of the wax paper over the roll. under the roll and continue to roll. And tuck it And again, as with the dough, fold the wax paper over one end to seal it.
Fold over the other end and secure both ends with rubber bands. What I do at this point is start piling them in the freezer. It s much too much trouble to go to, just make one, so I make at least four or five. You still have enough filling and dough to make some more so just keep going until you run out of stuff. By this time, your nosy neighbors have begun to smell what you re up to and they begin pushing and stumbling in the
front door. The only way to get rid of them is to bake a couple Strudels and sneak around the house from the back door and put them in the front yard. Then when your neighbors follow the smell out the door, you slam it on them and lock it up. To bake: Spray some of the Butter Spray on a baking pan. Remove the wax paper, put the Strudels in the pan and spray them with some more Butter Spray. Beat the Egg.
Strudels. Pour it on the Powdered Sugar. Sprinkle on some
Nut Topping. Sprinkle on the Put the strudels in the oven, set it to 350, and peek in ever so often.
Golden Brown. Bake until all is Cut the strudel into slice of Pie sized servings and generously top them with Whipping Cream. Add a nice big glop of Vanilla Ice Cream to each piece.
And decorate each piece with some Caramel or Butterscotch topping. Now this is about as decadent as anything in the Holy Roman Empire and I think Mozart might have ordered more than one slice.