The Austro-Hungarian Empire has given us quite a few pastries and treats. I’m always fascinated when I look at where cuisine comes from just how many desserts we can owe to this time and region! The apple strudel just happens to be one of my favorites that stakes this claim too. Still incredibly popular in Austria (where it is the national dish!), Germany, and the Bavarian region, it’s fortunately spread its way across the pond and into American baking too.
What goes into my Apple Strudel
My recipe today is easy to prepare with no sacrifice on taste because we are using simple but fresh ingredients. Mainly fresh Granny Smith apples, and a whole lot of them. If you would like to substitute, be sure to use a crisp apple, like Honeycomb, so it maintains it’s shape when shredded and baked. For the pastry we are using premade puff pastry, which will hold the strudel together well and let the flavors inside stand out. You can make your own dough for strudels as well but it is a difficult process the requires kneading by flogging, often multiple times, to get a dough that is thin and without clumps. The puff pastry works just as well and with create a flaky strudel, just how we like.
And then there is our secret weapon- apricot jam. I like to spread a thin layer of apricot jam to the pastry before adding the apple filling as it adds a perfect sweetness to the apple mixture. Some people add golden raisins or additional sugar but I much prefer the taste of these with the apricot jam baked sweetly into the puff pastry. Trust me on this one.
Pro tip
The only pro tip you will need today is serve these warm and consider adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! Let’s get baking, I guarantee you won’t be able to get this simple strudel into you fast enough.
Apple Strudel
Ingredients
- 1 pack (450g) puff pastry
- 6 large Granny Smith apples (~2.5 pounds)
- 1/2 (100g) cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 3/4 cup apricot jam
Instructions
Heat the oven to 420F.
- Shred the apples and mix with the sugar and the cinnamon.
- Unfold the pastry sheet onto lightly floured work surface.
- Roll the pastry sheet into a rectangle; cut into four squares; and then stretch each a little bit more (with your hands).
- Spread apricot jam over each pastry.
- Spoon the apple mixture onto the pastry square.
- Bend the sides in and then roll up like a jelly roll. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Repeat with the second sheet to make four more strudels.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
- Let the pastry cool on the baking sheet on top of a wire rack.
- Sprinkle with the confectioners’ sugar.
