APPLE STRUDEL WITH FILO PASTRY
Notes: My recipe for apple strudel made with filo dough is perfect for fall with a filling of tart granny smith apples (which hold their shape very well), raisins and marzipan. Cinnamon, sugar, and a touch of lemon heighten all the flavors. Once you’ve tried this with filo you may never go back to regular pastry for this recipe. This recipe would replace apple pie for me. Filo (or phyllo) dough is made by rolling or stretching sheets of dough until they become paper thin. If making filo by hand at home, it is very time-consuming, but luckily filo dough is available in the frozen section of most grocery stores these days. Layers of filo are stacked with butter or ghee brushed in between and baked with various sweet and savory fillings to produce a flaky, shatteringly crisp texture. Apple strudel originated in Austria and filo dough originated in Turkey, where it's known as yufka, but the Greek name filo ("leaf") stuck internationally.
When you buy filo pastry sheets they will come frozen. You need to let them thaw before using, otherwise they will shatter if you use them straight out of the box. The best way to thaw filo is to stick the box in the refrigerator the day before using, but you can also let the filo thaw on the counter at room temp if in a time pinch. When you remove the filo from the box you will need to unroll it slowly and carefully and you don’t want to leave the sheets sitting out for too long otherwise they will dry out and crumble easily. So make the filling first and then unroll your sheets.
For the apples you will see that granny smith are most commonly used in strudel recipes because of their tartness and ability to hold their shape. However, other good apples to use for strudel include Golden Delicious, or Honey Crisp apples. You could also try Pink Lady, Braeburn, or Macintosh varieties too.
I used some homemade marzipan for this recipe, which is very easy to make and I provide instructions in my cherry marzipan focaccia recipe, but you can also buy it. If you don’t want to use marzipan you can try slivered almonds or chopped walnuts instead, or none of the above. For the raisins you can use black or golden raisins (whichever you prefer).
There’s no special equipment needed for this recipe, optionally a silicone baking mat and an electric hand mixer for the whipped cream will be helpful.
Prep time: 40 mins, Bake time: 30 mins
Total time: 1 hr and 10 mins
Ingredients:
Filling:
Butter (melted): 1/2 cup or 1 stick
Panko breadcrumbs: 2/3 cup
Apples peeled, cored, and sliced: ~6 cups or 2 lbs (this is about 4 apples)
Raisins: 2/3 cup
Granulated sugar: 1/3 cup
Ground cinnamon: 1.5 tsp
Salt: 3/4 tsp (I used pink Himalayan salt)
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp
Marzipan (optional): 1/2 cup
Powdered or confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Filo pastry:
Filo sheets: 14 sheets that are 13” x 18” (Filo Factory filo dough is widely available and this size). Use 7 sheets per strudel log
Butter (melted) for brushing sheets: 3/4 cup or 1 and 1/2 sticks
Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with and a few tablespoons of water
Whipped cream topping:
Heavy whipping cream (with sugar, vanilla, and salt to taste)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Place the raisins in a bowl of hot water to soak for about 10 mins and plump up, then drain.
Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices or matchstick style pieces.
In a large bowl mix the sugar, cinnamon, and salt together. Then add the apples, raisins, marzipan broken into pieces, and lemon and mix until everything is coated with cinnamon sugar and set aside.
Place a clean tea towel on the counter then lay out a sheet of filo on top, brush the sheet all over with melted butter, then lay the next sheet on top and do the same. Repeat this until you have 7 buttered sheets stacked on top of each other.
Pour 1/4 cup of butter on the top sheet and brush to cover about 1/3 to 1/2 of the top sheet and leave ~2 inch border, then pour half the bread crumbs over the butter. Pour half the apple raisin mixture on top of the bread crumbs.
Roll the filo sheets with apple filling up like a burrito (tucking in the sides as you go) and use the tea towel to help you if you needed. Repeat the previous 2 steps to make a second strudel log.
Cut 6 slashes across the top of each strudel log.
Place both strudels on a parchment lined or silicone mat lined baking tray.
Beat one egg with a few tablespoons of water and brush all over the tops and sides of each log.
Bake for 25-30 mins (and rotate half way through) until the pastry is a beautiful golden color and has puffed up a little bit.
Let the apple strudels cool for about 15 mins, then dust some powdered sugar on top right before serving.
Beat cold whipping cream, a little maple syrup or powdered sugar (to your desired sweetness level), vanilla bean paste (optional) and a pinch of salt together until you have stiff peaks.
Serve slices with a dollop of whipped cream.
