Trick of the trade: Double apple strudel

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Wed, 23 Jun 2010
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Peel, core and dice the apples. Chop dried apple pieces and place in a pot with the fresh apple. Add raisins, cornflour, sugar and cinnamon, and half a cup of water. Stir and cook at a low simmer until the mix is dry and the apples cooked. The apple should be soft but not have lost its shape. Allow to cool, then add the vanilla essence and stir. Preheat the oven to 190degC. Process the walnuts and biscuits until they are the texture of breadcrumbs. Melt the butter. To assemble the strudel, unfold the filo pastry and keep it covered with a damp cloth to prevent it drying out. Spread one sheet of filo on a clean tea towel and brush it with butter. Take another sheet from under the damp cloth, place it on the first sheet and brush with butter again. Sprinkle with about a third of the walnut and biscuit crumb mixture. Lay a third sheet on this and brush with butter. The fourth sheet is brushed with butter and sprinkled with another third of the crumbs. The fifth sheet is just brushed with butter, and the sixth sheet is not buttered but has just the last of the crumbs sprinkled on. Spread the apple mixture along the centre of the filo pile, leaving a 5cm border on all sides. Using the tea towel to lift the filo, carefully roll it up so the long borders overlap and make a join along the bottom of the roll. Tuck under the ends of the pastry. Carefully lift the strudel on to a tray lined with baking paper or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Don't worry about any cracks in the outer layer of filo. Brush the top with a little more butter. Put the strudel in the oven at 190degC for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing into six thick, diagonal slices. Sieve icing sugar lightly over the slices. To serve, pour some hot custard on to a plate and place the slice of strudel on top. Simple custard sauce made with custard powder: Put the custard powder and sugar in a bowl and add a little of the milk. Stir to mix. Put the rest of the milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Pour the boiling milk into the custard powder, whisk, and tip back into the saucepan. Return to the heat and stir until it boils and thickens. Add a dash of cream to make it richer if you like. To make a thicker custard, use more custard powder. To make a thinner one, use less. More information on cooking from the Otago Polytechnic can be found on www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com
 

Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier. This week Chef Pfyl demonstrates how to make an apple strudel.

Double apple strudel

serves 6
3 small apples, peeled, cored and diced
120g dried apple, coarsely chopped
60g raisins
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 Tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla essence
90g walnuts
30g ginger or wine biscuits
1/8 cup melted butter
6 sheets filo pastry

Simple custard sauce made with custard powder

300ml milk
2 Tbsp custard powder
2 Tbsp sugar

To request a particular technique, please write to Trick of the trade, Editorial Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin or email odt.features@odt.co.nz with trick of the trade in the subject line.  

 

 

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