Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Daring Bakers May 2009 - Strudel


Stretching the dough
Originally uploaded by watchjennybake.
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I have made strudel before, but it was back when I was a freshman in high school and doing a project on Austria, including a meal with traditional food. I remember thinking the sachertorte was far tastier than the strudel with its dense dough. I have suspected for a long time that I simply did not handle the dough appropriately, and was excited to see this challenge.

Apple Strudel before rolling
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make two batches of strudel after seeing a recipe for Curried Fruit Strudel in G - The Magazine of Greenville, the May/June issue. The hosts also said it might take more than one batch to get the hang of stretching the dough to a thinness of tissue paper.

Apple Strudel before rolling
They were right! I ended up with a huge tear in my first batch that no patching would repair. I decided to go ahead and use it as it was with the original apple, raisin, and walnut mixture. The only change I made was substituting vanilla for rum, not that I'm against rum, but it was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and I knew I had two days where I couldn't buy any, and didn't want to wait. As you can see, the bread crumbs are prominent on this dough. I didn't like how much you could see and taste them in between the layers without filling, so decided that the next time I would only sprinkle them on the areas of the dough that would have direct contact with the filling.

Apple Strudel Slice
The end result was pretty good. Something about the dough made Nathaniel think of pizza, and while I didn't get that exactly, the breadcrumbs made me unhappy. Okay, okay, I admit it! I bought pre-made breadcrumbs! Maybe if I had made my own they would have been softer and more buttery, less like sawdust. Live and learn.

You can find the recipe for the original apple strudel at either host's site, as well as the recipe for the dough. What follows is the recipe I made, adapted from the recipe found in G Magazine for curried fruit strudel.

Curried Fruit Strudel
Curried Fruit Strudel Filling
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced
2 bananas, sliced at the last minute
3 tbsp dried tropical fruit (I used diced mango, papaya, and pineapple), soaked in 1 tbsp vanilla and 1 tbsp banana liqueur
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp curry powder
6 tbsp butter, melted, separated

Heat 3 tbsp butter, sugar, curry powder, and cinnamon in a large pan on medium-high heat. Add apples and pears, stirring to soften. Remove from heat and stir in bananas, almonds, and tropical fruit. Use as filling in your favorite strudel dough, or use phyllo dough as a shortcut. Brush with butter and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until browned.

Second batch of dough - no tears!
The second time around, the dough was much more successful - only tiny tears, it rolled and stretched out more evenly, and I would not hesitate to try making another strudel another way. I thought the curried fruit combination was really interesting - sweet, spicy and delicious. I almost left the bananas out but they were really good with the curry. The dried tropical fruit was a last minute inspiration as I stared at the dried fruit section of the grocery store, and I thought it was a good way to include the flavors of those fruits without the water their fresh counterparts would contain! The change of only putting breadcrumbs on dough directly touching the filling made a big difference in the taste and texture of the final dessert, and I would recommend making this change in the future.

I sometimes go to YouTube for inspiration on baking technique, and came across this wonderful baker in Vienna, taped by a tourist, at an event that I can only imagine was created for tourists to begin with. Baking can be entertainment!




You may access my other Daring Bakers challenges here, or check out what the other bakers have done through The Daring Kitchen.

Categories: Apples, Curry, Daring Bakers, Pastry, Strudel

41 comments:

  1. I made the strudel twice too. But my first one was a disaster. Both yours look delicious!

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  2. The filling looks to amazing! wasnt this challenge great :)

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  3. Try using Panko breadcrumbs if you make the strudel again.

    I didn't taste them at all in mine, and it may be because they're so much lighter than regular breadcrumbs}:)

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  4. Curries fruit sounds so good. Esp with the bananas! Great job.

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  5. Hahaha... I made the same sawdust/breadcrumb conclusion. They just made the whole thing taste... crumbly? You were good to make a second one. :)

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  6. Wow..lok at that super crispy strudel dough... beautiful :)

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  7. I did it twice as well! I used half the dough to make the traditional apple but I didn't like the taste of it so much (I thought the recipe was a bit bland). Then I made a second one inspired by Moroccan M'hencha.

    Curry and fruits look like a winning combination! Yum!

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  8. Oh, Jenny, adding curry to the apples is brilliant and sounds tssty! Also, your strudel came out incredibly flaky and light. Great job!

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  9. Beautiful job! Looks yummy! :)

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  10. Curried fruits sound great. I wonder if one could use this combination in an ice cream...

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  11. What a nice idea to also post a YouTube clip.Maybe next time YouTube yourself!?!

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  12. Great job jenny! The curried fruit strudel looks really good.

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  13. Great job jenny! The curried fruit strudel looks really good.

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  14. Great job Jenny! The curried fruit strudel looks very good.

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  15. Love curries fruit. Esp banannas. Sp good. Great job!

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  16. Curried? Seriously, that sounds awesome. Great idea!

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  17. Great job on this month's challenge!

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  18. Great job! The curried fruit sounds so creative. I really struggled with getting it thin enough and found myself looking online at videos as well. They make it look so effortless but I guess if you make it regularly it becomes like old hat. :)

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  19. Would have never thought of a curry fruit strudel. Sounds good!

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  20. Scrumptious fillings! Wonderful job!

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  21. Wondeful strudel. The curried filling sound delicious especially with the banana. I've never had anything like that, but it just seems to mesh. :)

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  22. Your strudel looks sooo good! Great job!

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  23. your look good! and tasty great job!

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  24. Hello Jenny!!

    Thank you very much for visiting my Blog (in the previus challenge whose you was hosted = I really loved your proposal of April challenge, the cheesecake was amazing!!) I apologize for the delay of my reply (I was very very busy).

    Your strudel looks DELICIOUS and the dough is perfect!!
    I couldn't get a elastic dough like yours. The mine was not easy to stretch it, I think the problem was I add too much flour in the dough when I kneaded it. Next time I would like to try your Curried Fruit Strudel filling, that sound yummy!!

    Regards
    Eva of "La Manzana dulce de Eva"

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  25. You did a fabulous job on your strudel. I love how it turned out.

    Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

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  26. Anonymous4:54 PM

    Curried fruit filling sounds really tasty! Great idea!

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  27. Your filling looks delicious! I wish I could have gotten mine as crisp as yours

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  28. Great job! My dough stretched better the first time...oh, well. I would think curry and fruit would be pretty good, especially since raisins are often found in curries.

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  29. Oooh, that curried filling sounds so interesting. Way to be adventurous! It looks delish.

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  30. Looks delicious! Curry and apple is a great idea! Great job!

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  31. Both of your strudels looks great! I love curried fruits! :)

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  32. Questo strydel ha un aspetto davvero invitante ,bravissima!

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  33. Exiting filling for your second strudel, love it!

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  34. Curried fruit? Genius! Congrats on a great DB Challenge :)

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  35. Wow! The curried strudel soudns amazing!!! Sorry about the breadcrumbs, though! It looks great!

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  36. i adore that you used curry in your fruit filling. like you, i did this challenge twice, however, you were successful in that you actually made TWO strudels. awesome job!

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  37. Hi Jenny! Thanks for your comment.

    I'm sorry to say that I'm officially a delinquent Daring Baker. haha. But this looks awesome!!! :D

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  38. Oh My--you are so ambitious...both with your strudel and your reading through all DB Blog posts. Your challenge looks so fabulous--I wish I'd participated now. :)

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  39. Fabulous job - I am intrigued by the sound of the curried fruit version.

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  40. Your strudels look so delicious. Unfortunately, I couldn't participate in this challenge.
    Thanks for sharing the video!

    Love your blog!

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  41. Wow, the second batch of dough is perfect! I must admit, I pulverized some cookie crumbs and used those so I could get the layers w/out tasting...bread. MMMmmmmhoney flavored teddy grahams with butter (though it was a bit morbid, throwing them in the food processor.)

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