Recipe: Traditional Austrian apple strudel from Vienna’s Andante

Anyone who has taken a river cruise through Vienna with Avalon Waterways may have stopped at Andante, the city’s culinary stage and a cooking school offering classes, workshops and presentations around classic Austrian dishes. Where better to look then when searching for the ultimate freshly baked apple strudel?

Here, Avalon and Andante have supplied us with the recipe for a traditional Apfelstrudel so, if even if you can’t make it over to Vienna right now, you can help your taste buds and sense of smell do all your travelling for you.

Ingredients

Dough

• 2.5 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• Powdered sugar (for sprinkling)
• 1 strudel cloth

Filling

• 10 cups peeled apples
• 1 teaspoons cinnamon
• Lemon peel
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup rum
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Knead the bread flour, salt, vegetable oil and water by hand until it becomes smooth, soft and
   elastic. Shape the dough into a smooth ball, put it in a bowl and coat it lightly with oil. Wrap it
   in plastic and let rest for two hours at room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 220C and prepare a baking tray, covering it with baking paper.
3. Meanwhile, roast the breadcrumbs with the butter.
4. Prepare the apples, peeling and cutting into small, thin slices around 2-3mm thick. Place in a
   bowl with lemon juice, lemon peel, sugar, raisins, rum and cinnamon.
5. Put the strudel cloth on a bench and lightly flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough. Flour
   the back of your hands and slowly stretch the dough with your knuckles, until it’s paper-thin.
6. Brush the dough carefully with melted butter and spread the toasted breadcrumbs on ¾ of the
   dough. Place the apple slices on the dough in one, even layer, leaving 3cm to the edge. Cut
   off the thick ends of the dough and fold in the sides to avoid loss of filling.
7. Using the strudel cloth, roll the dough, starting at the apple topped end and put the strudel on
   the lined baking tray. Brush the strudel with butter and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
8. After 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 180C and continue to bake for another 20 minutes.
9. Allow to cool slightly, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.