Go Back

Apple strudel

Strudel is one of the most popular desserts in Hungary. We have many delicious fillings and tend to make our own pastry too! However, I don’t have time for fiddling with pastry-making, so these days I just buy ready-to-use filo pastry in the supermarket. So this Apple strudel is a very easy dessert to make for my family at the weekends! I like soaking the raisins in rum or brandy, it makes the Strudel extra yummy – but you don’t have to do it if you’re worried about the alcohol. I should mention, that traditionally the breadcrumbs are not added to the strudel filling but scattered between the layered filo sheets, then under and on top of the filling to soak up any liquid released from the fruits. I find mixing the bread crumbs with the filling just as effective when I make my strudel with shop-bought filo pastry – but home-made pastries do require the traditional filling method.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Resting Time 4 hours
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 6 people
Cuisine: Mid&East European
Calories: 1234

Ingredients
  

  • 75 g raisins
  • 4 Tbsp rum or brandy
  • 400 g green apples
  • 400 g sweet apples
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Couple of pinches of ground cloves
  • Grated zest of ½ lemon
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 50 g muscovado sugar
  • 100 g butter
  • 50 g breadcrumbs
  • 6 large sheets filo pastry
  • icing sugar to garnish
  • flaked almonds optional

Method
 

  1. Soak the raisins in rum or brandy for about 2- 4 hours, then drain. (optional)
  2. Peel, core and cut the apples in half, then slice them into thin moon shapes. Put them in a big bowl, add the cinnamon, ground cloves, lemon zest and juice, sugar and raisins. Mix carefully and rest.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
  4. In a small frying pan, melt a knob of butter and fry the breadcrumbs until golden-brown, then add to the apple mixture.
  5. Melt the remaining butter in a pan, let it cool.
  6. Clear a large worksurface and cover with a clean, slightly wet tea-towel. Lay a sheet of the filo in the middle of the towel, then using a silicon brush, brush it with the melted butter. Lay another sheet on top and repeat until you have used all the filo sheets.
  7. Spread the filling evenly along the length of the pastry, about 2-3cm in from the edge, up to the third of the sheet’s width. Using the tea-towel, roll up the pastry to enclose the filling, creating a fat sausage. Tuck the ends in and move it onto the lined baking sheet, seam-side down. Brush with the remaining melted butter. (You can scatter almond flakes on top, if liked).
  8. Bake for about 35-45 minutes, until golden-brown.
  9. Let it cool, then dust with icing sugar. Serve with custard or vanilla ice-cream.