Classic Christmas recipe from my Grandma Irene’s family.
Granny Irene used to remind everyone that the best recipe was the one she got from her mother and her sister Tilde … a pity that it was probably lost before the birth of my mother and therefore this story is one of the family myths.
The recipe that grandma made had the classic strudel dough and a filling rich in dried fruit and apricot jam; therefore, not traditional. She loved that the dough remained slightly thick, not like in the Austrian recipe.
I added some changes but my grandmother Irene’s family went to eye and every year the family gathered to decide if it was better or worse than the previous year.

Granny Irene's apple strudel

  • Preparation time: XX minutes
  • Ingredients for 8-10 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the dough:
  • 250 gr or 9 oz of pastry flour
  • 1 egg
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • half a glass of water
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of melted butter
  • For the filling:
  • 6-7 rennet apples cut into thin slices
  • 100 gr or 4 oz of sugar
  • 1 pinch of cinnamon
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of raisins
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of pine nuts
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of almonds
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of chopped walnuts
  • 50 gr or 2 oz of breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon of rum
  • 2 tablespoons apricot jam
  • butter to taste
  1. Instructions
  2. First, put the water and the butter in a small pan and cook on a very low heat until the butter liquefies. Allow to cool.
  3. On the table, with the flour, place the egg inside, salt, sugar and melted butter in the water in the center.
    Mix everything well working vigorously: the mixture must be homogeneous, smooth, and soft.
  4. At the end, beat the dough on the table to make it more elastic.
  5. Put the dough in a lightly floured napkin and let it rest covered by a previously heated saucepan.
  6. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
  7. In a saucepan, lightly toast the breadcrumbs with a little cinnamon in a knob of butter.
  8. Melt more butter in another saucepan.
  9. In a cup full of hot water and rum soak the raisins for about ten minutes. Then drain them and squeeze them out well.
  10. Cut the apples into thin slices.
  11. Chop the dried fruit into small pieces.
  12. Roll out the dough of the fairly thin strudel with a rolling pin and brush it with melted butter.
  13. Lay the cut apples, dried fruit, breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon and apricot jam flakes on the pastry. Fold the ends and roll the dough tightly.
  14. Lay the strudel on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Brush it with more butter.
  15. Bake in a hot oven at 350° F for about forty-five minutes.
  16. When cold, dust it with icing sugar.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The butter and water must be lukewarm when incorporated into the dough; otherwise, it will ruin it.
  • If the mixture is too dry, add more warm water with a spoon, this depends on the type of flour that is used.
  • A trick to spread the strudel well and roll it up without too many problems is to spread it over a cloth dusted with flour. The thickness is right when the dough is thin enough to cover completely and to show the texture of a canvas of 40cmx60cm or 15 3⁄4inch x 23 5⁄8inch size.
  • The icing sugar should be sieved on the cake only when it is cold; otherwise, it could soften the dough too much, which should remain slightly crunchy.

 My Gran-grandmother Tilde