Viennese Apple Strudel
Viennese strudel is one of the most famous Austrian desserts and a symbol of Austrian cuisine — a paper-thin pastry filled with spiced apples, raisins and cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 250 gflour
- 1 egg
- 50 gmelted butter
- 100 mlwarm water
- pinchsalt
- 600 gsweet and sour apples, peeled and thinly sliced
- 100 gsugar
- 100 graisins
- 50 gbreadcrumbs or ground biscuits
- 60 gmelted butter
- 1 tspground cinnamon
- powdered sugar for dusting
Method
- Mix flour, egg, melted butter, warm water and a pinch of salt. Knead into a smooth, elastic dough. Cover with cling film and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Peel and core apples, slice thinly. Mix with sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Add breadcrumbs or ground biscuits to absorb excess moisture.
- On a floured surface, roll out dough into a large thin rectangle. Spread filling along one edge, leaving small borders. Drizzle with melted butter. Roll the dough into a log from the filled side.
- Transfer to a buttered or parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush surface with melted butter. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
- Cool slightly, then dust generously with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
FAQ
Tearing means the dough needs more resting time or was rolled too quickly. After kneading, wrap the dough in film and rest it for at least 30 minutes at room temperature — the gluten relaxes and the dough becomes elastic. Stretch it on a floured cloth using the backs of your hands, not your fingers, moving from the center outward. Tears can be patched — the layered strudel will hide them.
Yes. Phyllo (filo) pastry is the closest substitute — brush each sheet with melted butter and stack 3–4 layers. Puff pastry also works but gives a different, flakier texture. The filling stays exactly the same. Bake phyllo strudel at 190°C for 25–30 minutes until golden.
The classic choice is a sweet-and-sour apple: Granny Smith, Antonovka, or Boskoop. Pure sweet apples (like Golden Delicious) turn mushy and release too much juice. Firm, slightly tart varieties hold their shape during baking and balance the sugar in the filling. Slice them no thicker than 3–4 mm.
Apples release a lot of juice when heated. The breadcrumbs in the filling absorb this moisture — don't skip them. You can also lightly salt the sliced apples, leave them for 10 minutes, and pat dry before filling. Make sure the dough is stretched thin enough — thick dough traps steam and makes the bottom soggy.
Strudel is best served warm, 15–20 minutes out of the oven, dusted generously with powdered sugar. The classic Viennese accompaniment is vanilla sauce (Vanillesauce) or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Whipped cream also works perfectly. Leftover strudel can be reheated in the oven at 160°C for 10 minutes to restore the crisp texture.
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Comments (1)
Oven thermometers don't lie — your oven dial probably does. I discovered my oven runs 15°C hot, which explained years of slightly overbaked results. For viennese apple strudel, the actual 180°C matters more than the dial position.