How to Make Hungarian Strudel

Like its relative, the German strudel, authentic Hungarian strudel can seem like a daunting recipe to try, especially if you are not accustomed to doing a lot of baking. It's true that making your own strudel dough is a time-consuming process and can be tricky. Fortunately, using fillo dough reduces the amount of work and time needed to prepare the strudel and results in a light, flaky, buttery strudel that is very similar to what you would get with the more traditional, Hungarian version of the dough.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Greased sheet pan
• Brush for the melted butter
• 1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
• Three apples
• 1/2 pound pitted dates
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• Four to six sheets of fillo dough, or:
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup warm water
• One slightly beaten egg

Preparing the Dough

1. Combine salt and flour.

2. Stir in beaten egg.

3. Stir in water.

4. Mix dough with a knife or fork just until incorporated.

5. Turn out onto a floured work surface and kneed the dough. The more you kneed it, the softer, more elastic it will become.

6. Cover the dough with a damp towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until the dough is roughly twice its original size.

7. Cover a 36- by 48-inch table with a clean, floured cloth.

8. Place the dough in the center of the cloth and roll out into a rough oval.

9. Stretch the dough out with your hands, one area at a time. Work your way around the table, pulling the dough out toward the edge of the table a little bit at a time. Continue to stretch the dough until it hangs over the edge of the table.

10. Cut off the dough that hangs over the edge to remove the thicker edges.

Prepare the Filling

11. Peel, core and slice your apples. Make sure the keep the slices thin (1/4 inch or so).

12. Slice the pitted dates lengthwise in quarters.

13. Toss the apples and dates in a bowl with the pine nuts.

14. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

Prepare the Strudel

15. Lay a single sheet of fillo dough on a clean work surface that has been covered with a clean towel. If you are working with homemade strudel dough, skip to step 4.

16. Brush the sheet with melted butter.

17. Layer the sheets of fillo dough on top of each other, one at a time, brushing with butter after each sheet is added.

18. Spread the filling out over the fillo or strudel dough, leaving an inch or so of space on both short ends and 3 inches of space at one of the longer ends.

19. Roll the strudel by folding the 3-inch border over and then either roll the strudel over and over until you reach the end, or lift the edge of the towel and let the strudel roll itself.

20. Tuck the ends of the strudel under and slide onto your greased baking pan.

21. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. For best results, brush the strudel with more melted butter every 15 to 20 minutes.

22. Remove the strudel from the oven and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

23. Slice the strudel into 1- to 2-inch pieces and serve.

Tips & Warnings

• If you prefer a purely apple strudel (which is a more common, Hungarian version), use six apples, leave out the dates and pine nuts and add 1 cup of granulated sugar or less, depending on the tartness of the apples you're using.
• You can substitute any sort of fruit and/or nut combination for the apple/date mixture. Experiment with different fruit and nut combinations to make a dessert uniquely your own.
• Because fillo dough does not contain any animal products, making strudel vegan is easy. Just replace the butter with the same amount of soy margarine or your favorite, dairy-free alternative.
• Using a bread machine, mixer or food processor to make your dough will save you time and sore arms. Just remember to add liquid ingredients first, and then slowly add the dry ingredients while the machine is working.
• No matter which version of the recipe you use, the strudel you end up with will be large enough to feed at least ten people. This makes it a great dessert for a large gathering.
• Because dates are so naturally sweet, this particular recipe does not require added sugar. This makes it a good dessert choice for those who want to limit their intake of refined sugars.
• Fillo dough is very temperamental and can be difficult to work with. Make sure to cover the dough you aren't using at the moment with a damp towel to keep it from drying out. Also, it's best to defrost it in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight. It takes longer, but won't dry out as fast.

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[indexercarol]

on 2/2/2009 Although I agree that using filo is a time-saver, I sure can't agree that it's anywhere near as good as the homemade stretched dough. Filo just doesn't have the same "bite." I make the poppy seed version, which my grandmother called mohn strudel. I grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder. I think I'll try your apple date version; it sounds yummy.