Everyone knows that strudel is a Viennese national symbol, a kind of visiting card of the country. Crispy, fragrant, with the sweetest apple filling and clouds of whipped cream around, decorated with a ball of ice cream. Dessert is eaten faster than the ice cream has melted ... When you watch the master-cook prepare the dough for strudel, it seems like making it is as tricky as dancing the Viennese waltz: it looks easy and carefree, only you can’t repeat it for a beginner. Well, we still try. And at the same time we will tell you some interesting stories about this Austrian fancy pastry dessert .
Origin and discussion on this topic
Although the Austrians will fiercely deny this, the Vienna strudel was invented by the Turks. They invented the thinnest yeast-free baklava dough. By the way, almost all countries under the Ottoman rule took over the Turkish experience, which only once again indicates that this delicacy is insanely tasty. In Moldova and Romania now there is a vertuta, in Greece - a bug, and in Hungary - a ratchet. Be that as it may, the oldest written recipe was found in the cookbook of 1696. Milhramstrudel - this is the name of the dish mentioned in the manuscript. This is a roll with cottage cheese and cream sauce, which was usually served right in the pan. Since almonds and raisins were expensive in Austria, the usual Turkish filling was replaced with apples. So there was a classic recipe.
Moment of glory
So the strudel would have remained local indulgence for the sweet tooth, if not for one circumstance. In 1814, European diplomats gathered in the Austrian capital for the Vienna Congress to sign a joint declaration of victory over Napoleon. After the official part, as usual, there was a banquet. Since it was somehow not comme il faut to put French cakes on such a table, we decided to treat our guests with Austrian pastries. And the Viennese strudel made of light crispy dough with fruit filling, a slice of fresh apple and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, served together with cappuccino coffee, so conquered everyone that all the guests took to their countries a recipe for this delicious dessert.
Varieties of strudel
After such a dizzying success of the Austrian dessert, its variations began to appear in various countries. And within the Habsburg empire, their strudel was prepared in every city. With pears and chocolate, with poppy seeds and candied fruits, berries, cottage cheese, raisins and nuts. If you are in Lviv, do not forget to try this roll with peach filling and framed by a gentle vanilla sauce. In the zucerne on Staroevreyskaya they make it the most delicious. It is a mistake to think that strudel is always a dessert. There are unsweetened rolls: with cabbage, fish, potatoes. Very popular among Germans and Austrians is the Vienna strudel with meat. Well, the classics of the genre are as follows: apple or cherry filling with whipped cream and a ball of creamy ice cream.
Preparing the foundation
But no matter what filling we choose, the main violin in this dish is dough. And you don’t need to be Paganini to play this instrument expertly. All that is needed for a crispy and at the same time tender roll is flour with a high gluten content and a little bit of dexterity. The latter is also acquired over time. So we dare. Sift through a sieve three hundred grams of flour, drive in an egg, add two tablespoons of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt. We begin to slowly pour an incomplete glass of lukewarm water. And knead the dough for the Viennese strudel. Lubricate the gingerbread man with vegetable oil, wrap in cling film and put in a warm place for an hour. This time can be devoted to the preparation of the filling.
Viennese strudel: apple recipe
He is only called that. It’s just customary to say that he is apple. In fact, raisins, rum, nuts, cinnamon also go into the classic filling ... We begin to prepare this mouth-watering filler by filling one hundred grams of raisins with two large spoons of rum. After the raisins swell for half an hour, we mix it with two tablespoons of melted butter, a little more breadcrumbs and a bag of vanilla sugar. Apples in the classic Viennese strudel need to choose solid, green, sour varieties. We clean four pieces and cut the pulp into cubes. Cut a quarter of a lemon and rub the zest, squeeze the juice. Mix citron with apples.
Vienna strudel with meat
The filling for this hot dish is very simple. Prepare a pound of veal or pork and ground beef - it is better on your own, not trusting the products of supermarkets. Add salt and pepper to it. That’s all for a short time. There is another recipe - Lungenstrudel. Pork lung should be finely chopped, fried with onion, egg and a pinch of marjoram. However, meat strudel is being prepared in a completely different way. The dough is pulled, the filling is wrapped in a roll. Then the strudel is cut into pieces and left for a quarter of an hour. In a pan with high sides or a stewpan, fry two chopped onions until golden. We cook five diced potatoes in beef broth. There should be a little fluid. When the potatoes become half-baked, add onion and strudel slices. We soak under the lid on low heat for half an hour, after which we eat, like Siberian dumplings, with a bouillon.
The most difficult
We proceed to the hardest phase of preparing strudel - rolling out the dough. Necessarily need fabric. You can take a clean sheet. In many Austrian families, this fabric is kept for years and even washed separately. We cover it with a table and dust it with flour. We roll the gingerbread man into a cake. Methodically sipping on the weight of the edges, increase it until it becomes thin. Shake, swing from side to side - if there was enough gluten in the flour, the dough should not break. We strive to make it very thin, like tissue paper, a layer of 50 by 70 cm. We spread it on the fabric and grease it with melted butter. Well, now we will form the Viennese apple strudel. Along the length of the rectangle of the dough, stepping back from the edge of about 15 cm, lay out the track of breadcrumbs and vanilla sugar. On top of them we place apples with lemon. Then sprinkle with “slightly drunk” raisins. At the very top is a handful of red hot crushed nuts, a spoonful of cinnamon, a glass of sugar. Gently lift the edge of the dough and close the filling, like a blanket. We take the released tissue at both ends and raise it, forcing the edge of the dough with the filling to roll and spin into a roll.
Baking and "accessories"
We put the twisted strudel on a baking sheet, greased with butter, with the seam down. Twist the ponytails so that the filling does not spill out. Lubricate the roll with melted butter. The oven must be preheated to 175 degrees. Viennese strudel must be baked for about 30-40 minutes. We give our masterpiece a little cool, sprinkle with icing sugar, serve with ice cream, cream, berries. You can also prepare for it a special vanilla sauce. Warm up half a glass of milk. Let's dissolve a bag of vanilla in it. We continue to heat the milk, and when it boils, we gradually introduce 8 g of starch into it. The mixture gradually thickens. Let’s hold it a little longer on a fire, then let’s cool, add whipped yolk and mix. This sauce is served with hot cold strudel.