It's Daring...that I tried to make this strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.



Things this challenge taught me: for goodness sakes, follow the directions! When making the dough, the recipe instructs you to use a table cloth as you roll out the dough. It also encourages you to have quite a large work surface available. I had neither. Seriously, you need the table cloth! This dough gets so, so thin. I had managed to get it pretty thin overall, but a small tear soon turned into a large rip. Then, without the aid of the tablecloth, it's next to impossible to roll the strudel up. But what I did end up with was light, flaky and tasty! And that's all that counts in the end, right? Right.

Preparation time

Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes
15-20 min to make dough

30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling

20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough

10 min to fill and roll dough

30 min to bake

30 min to cool

Apple strudel

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum

3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided

1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbsstrudel dough (recipe below)

1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts

2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.
4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough

from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough

1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.

Try, try again...

I entered this month's Daring Bakers challenge with some trepidation...last month's challenge was a rocky road for me as I struggled to make something that in some way, somehow resembled a delicious dessert that others would want to eat.

When the August challenge was announced, I thought how wonderful this challenge would be. Who doesn't love eclairs? And even if only one of the two dozen turns out well, I can still have a picture perfect baking moment. Things started off smoothly until my perfect puffed eclairs came out of the oven and...de-puffed. Yep. Completely flat and unappetizing, slightly eggy smelling and soft in the center. I hadn't gotten a start on the chocolate pastry cream or the chocolate glaze, so I tossed the flopped desserts into the garbage and stayed away from the kitchen for a week.

I did my research before my next attempt and learned that if your eclairs fall after being removed from the oven, they weren't baked long enough, and it's almost impossible to over bake them. So on my second attempt I left them in as long as I possibly could, certain that my careful and meticulous efforts this time around would ensure that the puffs would stay puffed.

Yet again, almost all of these deflated within moments of being removed from the oven. So I cut my losses and moved forward, whipping together the yummy chocolate pastry cream, the laborious chocolate glaze, and put the whole mess together into a dozen or so chocolate eclairs.

The result? A somewhat picture perfect chocolate-filled moment and a fabulous sugar high Sunday. This time around I confirmed that it is always better to have plenty of extra ingredients on hand, to step away from the oven when verging on insanity, and that there's absolutely nothing better than chocolate pastry cream.

I'd include the recipe, however, it is rather long...it's from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, so check it out when in need of some chocolate goodness.

Truffles, pastries, petit fours, AND pasta... oh my!

So, I spent a lot more of the weekend in the kitchen. I think that I need to start pushing myself more and more each weekend to just bake away ... so if I show up at your door toting some mocha fudge 3-layer concoction, please don't turn me away!

To start off the weekend I worked on some petit fours. When I was 12 or so I really wanted to make petit fours. So my mom and I busted out the Betty Crocker, the cookbook of choice in our home. We cut the cake into diamonds and circles, and as we poured the glaze over the top, it was a miserable mess. My dreams of teeny, perfectly iced cakes were dashed. In searching for a fun Halloween treat to bring into work (and one that looks like it takes a decent amount of skill to produce) I discovered a picture of petit fours decorated with bats, spiders, etc. It seems that recipes vary tremendously. So, I went straight to my Betty Crocker! (I found the glaze online....somewhere...)


I struggled to get a good orange - this is VERY peach - and the glaze was horrible. I still need to do some experimenting. I did, however, find a great pan. It makes 24 individual cakes, perfect for this task!

Always wanting to try my hand at homemade pasta, this was task number two for the weekend.

Not having any special tools, my rolling pin could only get the dough so thin. But, the end result was pretty tasty.


Planning for upcoming holiday gifts, I thought I would try my hand at making truffles. I'm not ready to tackle tempering chocolate, but the rest of the process was quite easy. delicious:days has a great recipe for Earl Grey truffles, which smelled amazing and tasted even better. And, for the record - while Steve is usually my photographer, I took this picture myself and I'm quite proud of it!


Finally, I had one last project in me. This summer I had made some excellent Danish pastries that I pulled from a pastry book I really like. The filling is a coffee/almond mixture that is just spectacular. The filling is paired with a pretty traditional puff pastry. Not up for the work of puff pastry, I pulled the recipe from Baking Bites for Nutella Scrolls. This dough is so simple to make - 5 minutes or less - and was perfect with this filling. I sent these off to work with Steve so I didn't get to enjoy any of their coffee goodness (well, except for that "test" roll...).


My appointment with Kendall College is this Saturday. I've gone back and forth on this - it would be a great opportunity, but I don't think this is the opportune time. I was recently promoted at work, I have a great workout routine that I'd like to have the time to stick to, and I think being committed to classes 3-times a week just won't make sense for me right now. I'm going to look into other opportunities, possibly class through Wilton or other schools in the area. I think this is the right plan for me, and even more of a reason to keep the baking going over the weekends.

Danish Pastries, mmm mmm

Wandering through the bargain section at Borders, I happened across a pastry book. For $5.00 I thought I'd take a chance on it, and it has turned out to be phenomenal! I don't have it in front of me to give credit where credit is due, but the book is great. I made some excellent Danish pastries today, filled with an almond coffee mixture. Brushed with an apricot glaze and with some coffee frosting drizzled over top, delicious! Hope my co-workers enjoy tomorrow ... nice start to a Monday morning!