This was the only dessert my mother would prepare. She used to say it was the only one that would come out right. However, I now think what happened was that she would not measure anything and that made it quite easy. So, the truth is I have no exact amounts for this recipe. I will make rough calculations, but take it with a grain of salt. I think this is one of the few if not the only time we can do pastry stuff without having to measure. At home we would love seeing it come out of the oven. It would hardly last more than 48 hours. It was something you would have to choose to eat now or miss it until the next time kind of deal.
Apple Strudel
A recipe that comes directly from my memory chest that I share in the middle of this emotional commotion we are all going through. A little bit of pampering from Heaven to your Table.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Before starting, peel the apples, thinly slice them and sort them in a bowl putting a little sugar in between the layers. There’s no need to add a lot of sugar, but let’s say about ½ tablespoon. What you want is for the apple to start sweating its juice and obtain a kind of syrup. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the kitchen counter to rest for at least a couple of hours.
- Flatten your puff pastry with a rolling pin to a thickness of about ¼ to ½ an inch tops and in the shape of a rectangle of about 12 in (30 cm) long by 10 in (25 cm) wide more or less.
- Place your dough in a baking sheet previously lined with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 350 °F (180 °C)
- With a spoon, place the apples in the middle of the puff pastry rectangle, leaving enough seam to close the strudel as if it were a letter, i.e. in thirds. Thus, the apples should be in the mid-third. Also, leave a bit of a seam on the edges so as to fold them as if it were the flap of the letter’s envelope towards the center.
- On top of the apples drizzle the syrup at the bottom of your apple bowl, sprinkle raisins, the pecan pieces, ground cinnamon, and place two or three cinnamon sticks.
- Using a pastry brush and the egg white as your glue, close the strudel. Firstly, fold the top end, then the lower end, and lastly, the side flaps.
- With the same pastry brush, but now with the egg yolk, glaze your puff pastry. This will make it shiny and golden-colored.
- Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Use the shiny golden color of your puff pastry as your guide.
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool down. Decorate with a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top with a fine mesh strainer.
Notes
Oven preheated at 180 °C (350 °F)