Dairy-free Apple and Pear Strudel

Sweets & Desserts

Strudels are perfect during cooler evenings because they really highlight the fruit inside. Strudel is like a rolled up pie – much the same as a calzone is basically a rolled up pizza.
Based on an original recipe kindly sent in by Jack McNulty.

Intermediate
20-30 Minutes
Ingredients List for people
Units:
Instructions

  1. Begin by mixing together the croutons, sugar, raisins, crushed hazelnuts and cinnamon.
  2. Add the sliced apples, pears and lemon juice to the sugar and spice mixture and combine until all of the fruit slices are well coated.
  3. Begin making the strudel by separating the dough into two pieces and then placing one dough on a lightly floured clean towel.
  4. Begin working the dough ball into a flat disc by gently pulling the dough from the center outwards. Once the disc is roughly 10cm, begin to roll it out with a rolling pin or continuing to gently pull out each corner. Always work from the center out to each corner. Roll until very thin. You should be able to read a newspaper through the prepared dough. You are now ready for the filling.
  5. Coat the dough with olive oil, then add ground nuts or breadcrumbs leaving a 4cm border around the entire strudel.
  6. Evenly spread the filling along the bottom quarter of the dough. Fold about 5cm from each side in towards the center. Begin to roll into a log shape by lifting the towel and rolling the dough.
  7. Coat the log well with olive oil and bake for approximately 25- 30 minutes until golden in a pre-heated 175° C oven.
  8. If the strudel appears dry after 15 minutes, coat again with some more oil. 
  9. Cool slightly before serving.

The classic recipe, of course, is apple strudel, which is very difficult to beat in terms of overwhelming satisfaction. But if we tinker a bit, adding pears to the recipe can make it a little more interesting.

If you feel even bolder, replace the traditional roasted hazelnuts with walnuts. However you decide to make the filling, make sure to make the dough in the same manner, which is more in the Austrian style.

The addition of vinegar to the dough is very important, if not a bit odd sounding at first. Vinegar will help the formation of a very elastic gluten network, which helps greatly when stretching out this dough to a paper-thin consistency.

Make sure to use mild flavored white wine vinegar in your strudel dough

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