Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel)

Ingredients and Preparation

For the pastry:

(you can also use store-bought pastry)

50g (1/4 cup) margarine or butter

200g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

75 ml (1/3 cup) lukewarm water

Melt the margarine or butter in a small casserole dish. Put the flour into a bowl and then mix it together slowly with the other ingredients. First mix it with an electric mixer, gradually increasing the speed until the mixture reaches a dense consistency. You can also knead the mass by hand. Warm the water in a pan and then add the water to the mixture and stir it in until it is absorbed. Put the mixture into the pan (which should still be hot from warming the water), put a lid on top and let it stand for 30 minutes.

For the filling:

75g (1/3 cup) margarine or butter

Aprox. 1/2 kg (1lb, 1.6 oz, or around 2 3/4 cups sliced) cooking apples

2 tablespoons rum (you can use rum flavoring instead)

1 spoonful lemon juice

100g (1/2 cup) sugar

1 spoon vanilla essence or 25g (1/5 cup) vanilla sugar

50g (1/3 cup) almonds or spiced nuts

50g (1/2 cup) breadcrumbs

50g (1/3 cup) raisins

Spread butter on an ovenproof dish and lightly sprinkle with flour. Then preheat the oven. If it is an electric oven set it to 180ºC and slightly less if it is a gas oven.

Peel the apples and chop them into fine segments. Sprinkle with the rum and lemon juice. Melt the margarine or butter in a pan. Place the pastry on a cloth that has been sprinkled with flour and spread it out with a rolling pin. Spread a bit of melted margarine on top. Stretch out the pastry, without tearing it, so that it forms a rectangle of approximately 70 cm by 50 cm. Cut off the excess edges and keep them for later. Then spread the remaining butter over the mixture and scatter the breadcrumbs on top, leaving a border of around 3 cm all around the edges.

Put one ingredient on top of the other: first the apple segments, then the raisins, then the sugar, the vanilla and finally the almonds. Cover the mixture with the excess pastry. Roll up the mixture (with the help of the cloth) so that the longer side of the pastry rectangle is on the outside, and close up the edges well. Put a bit more butter over the strudel and place it on the ovenproof dish (that has been spread with butter and lightly sprinkled with flour). Put the strudel in the preheated oven and bake it for about 50 minutes. After the first 30 minutes of baking, put a bit more melted butter or margarine on the strudel.

When it is ready, take the strudel out of the oven and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. It can be served warm with vanilla ice-cream or cold.

Guten Appetit!