Oh, I love apple strudel. It is a perfect pudding at this time of year, when the last of the winter harvest is exhausted, spring has upped and gone, and there remains a slight chill in the air, with summer tantalisingly on the horizon.
Apple strudel is so good it even appears in films, infamously in the hands of Christoph Waltz at his most sinister in Inglourious Basterds, and most charmingly in the hands of Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music, when, on the terrace of the Von Trapps, a maid approaches him with a tray.
“More strudel, Herr Detweiler?” asks the maid. Max asks how many he’s had already. “Two,” she replies. “Then let’s make it an even three,” says he.
While her children sang along to The Sound of Music – well, a few of us perhaps – my mother may well have made a strudel dough, but I fear it is a memory lost in time – unlike the script for The Sound of Music.
The strudel I learned to cook in a small Scottish hotel kitchen began with a great bowl of peeled, cored and sliced apples, dredging the result in ground cinnamon, dark muscovado sugar, always a good thing, and much spice.
The table was lightly dusted with flour, the pastry was rolled and turned to become as thin as paper, with the occasional hole. (‘Tis better the odd hole in thin pastry than a rebellious lump of heat-resisting dough – it is not so easy to handle but makes for the best eating, so perseverance and strength of spirit is vital).
The resulting strudel should resemble a busted pipe, and a rusted one at that – it adds character. The magic of chopped roasted almonds and a flourish of icing sugar adds a time-honoured delight to the whole affair.
Apple strudel (apfelstrudel)
Serves 10-12
250g currants
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
10 crisp apples (such as cox’s)
150g dark muscovado sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground nutmeg
3 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground ginger
50g toasted breadcrumbs, ground
750g puff pastry, made with butter
1 egg, beaten with 2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp caster sugar
30g roasted whole almonds, chopped
A great bowl of cream, to serve
1 Set the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Tip the currants into a pan and just cover with cold water. Boil over a high heat until the water has gone and the currants just begin to caramelise.
2 Put the lemon juice into a bowl. Peel the apples, cut into quarters, remove the core and halve each slice again. Toss in the lemon juice as you go. Add the sugar, currants, spices, breadcrumbs and zest. Mix well.
3 Lightly flour a work surface. Start rolling out the pastry. After several rolls, lift the pastry, lightly flour again, turn it 90 degrees and roll again. Repeat until the pastry is as thin as paper. Ignore any holes. Spread the apples evenly over the pastry.
4 Lift one edge of the pastry and carefully roll up the strudel. Lift it on to a baking sheet, pulling it into shape. A rough finish makes for an appealing crust, once cooked.
5 Beat the egg with the milk. Brush liberally over the strudel. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. Reduce the temperature to 150C/300F/gas mark 2 and cook for 25 minutes. Insert a knife into the strudel – if the tip is hot, it’s done. If not, put it in for another 10‑15 minutes at 120C/250F/gas mark ½.
6 Let the strudel cool. It is worth remembering that the strudel is best served warm. Strew with almonds and dust very lightly with icing sugar. Wait for the cream.
- Jeremy Lee is chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis restaurant in London; @jeremyleeqv
