Classic Recipes from Granny: Apple Strudel

Today I am introducing apple cream strudel from Munich. This strudel is a classic from grandma’s time. I am happy that Anna from the German blog Teigliebe agreed to bake together a classic recipe from grandma’s time. We baked together already once, this was during the giveaway from Marc and Andrea, Anna made a super beautiful raspberry rhubarb pie and I made a strawberry pie with roses. I was happy when Anna agreed to bake again with me. I picked the topic “Classic Recipes from Grandma’s Time” due to the fact that my grandma S. passed away recently. At the funeral it was mentioned several times that she was a brilliant baker and cook. Her home was known as a “hotel” even though she did not run any as her food had the standard of a hotel and she loved to host a lot of get-togethers. I distinctly remember her birthdays as the table would be laden down with the weight of oh so many homemade cakes and pies.

Recently I inherited her handwritten recipe booklet. You probably can imagine that it is very dear to me. For many years I tried to learn grandma’s recipes, which turned out to be close to impossible. Granny knew a lot of recipes by heart, she often measured ingredients according to feeling. She often told me that you needed to feel, smell and see whether the dough needed any further modifications. During her lifetime I was not aware that she actually had a handwritten recipe book with measurements, when I sat down to watch her create something wonderful, I was at awe and hand given up hope I would ever get anything more precise. But now I had inherited her secret weapon full of wonderful recipes. Just for the famous “Bienenstich”, a sheet cake, I found more than five recipes. Which one was the one she used all the time, which one was the one she spoiled us with?

At the end I decided to make this apple cream strudel. I already have a plum strudel with cinnamon crumbs on this blog. We will also make strudel dough from scratch for this strudel. But don’t worry, it is not as hard as it may sound. The key to strudel dough is kneading it long enough until it becomes elastic. I learned that you can easily use a machine with a kneading attachment. Another  important factor ist he flour you use. Try to go for some with a high gluten amount. For further tips I would refer you to this site. I also decided to try this recipe as strudel is usually served much more often in the south of Germany than up north. I happen to live in Munich and therefore I am dedicating this apple cream strudel to my grandma. I hope you are proud of what I made.

Print Recipe

Apple Strudel with Sour Cream

Serves: About 8 pieces

Prep Time: 35-40 min + 30min of resting – Cooking Time: 35-40min – Total Time: 1 hr 50min

This apple strudel with sour cream is made from scratch and filled with lots of apples, raisins and some sour cream.

Ingredients

• Strudel Dough
• 140 grams of bread flour or high-gluten flour
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of canola oil
• A large pinch of salt
• Warm water, if necessary
• 
  
• Filling
• 600 grams of apples weighed after peeling and cutting (about 6 medium-sized apples)
• 50 grams of regular sugar
• 50 grams of raisins
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 200 grams of sour cream
• 50 grams of butter for brushing
• Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

1

Place all the ingredients except for the water for the dough in a large bowl and either knead by hand or with the hook attachment on low for about ten minutes, the dough needs this amount of time for the gluten to develop its powers. If kneading by hand, slap on the table in between kneading. After the ten minutes the dough should not be sticky anymore, but also not appear too dry. If still dry, add warm water by the spoon, if too sticky, add flour by the spoon. For the final result the dough should be shiny, yet not sticky anymore.

2

Wash another bowl with warm water, dry thoroughly and put about a teaspoon of oil in it. Place the dough inside, cover and let rest for at least half an hour. You can also chill overnight, let come to room temperature before continuing.

3

Meanwhile for the filling peel and cut the apples. Add sugar, raisins and spices, stir and set aside. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line one baking sheet with parchment paper.

4

Now take out the dough, place on a large tea towel, which you should flour. Also flour your rolling pin and your hands. Roll out the dough into a rectangle. Then take off all rings of your fingers and stretch the dough, you should be able to see the tea towel below. The dough should have the size of the tea towel, roughly of 40x70cm. Trimm off edges if they are still too thick. Spread the sour cream on the entire dough.

5

Then place the prepared apple filling on half of the dough, leaving an edge of at least 2 cm all around. Tightly roll into a log, using the towel below to help you as you roll. Seal the edges and lift the strudel with the towel to help you on prepared baking sheet. I like to roll the strudel then, so I can take out the towel. Brush with some melted butter. I recommend brushing the strudel at least two times during baking. Bake for about 35-40min or until golden. Either serve still warm or cold dusted with some icing sugar.

Notes

Strudel can be frozen fully prepared. Be sure to add a few minutes to the bake and put it straight from the freezer to the oven.

If you would like to try further classic recipes from Germany, how about:

Nut triangles

Black forest cake with lots of cherries

Creamy German cheese cake

Marble cake