Daring Bakers May 2009 Challenge

I wish you had Smell-a-Vision! Yum!

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.

At last, my German husband gets to taste homemade strudel. It only took 13 years of marriage and the Daring Bakers to get me to try it! He has fond memories of his grandfather Ernst, making strudel on the kitchen table. Recently I was going through some of his family photos and ran across this picture of my husband’s grandfather making strudel. He was being assisted by his daughter-in-law Mary.

Mary Schmidt and Ernst Schmidt making strudel

Of course, you can’t blame me for being intimidated on what sounds like a complicated procedure. After trying it though, I’m wondering why I didn’t give it a shot sooner. This was a very easy recipe to follow and the dough was a breeze to work with. See below for the photos.

First make fresh bread crumbs

4 slices makes 2 cups breadcrumbs

Time to toast the breadcrumbs

Knead a few minutes, until smooth.

It's easy to stretch the dough

It should be almost transparent

Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over dough

All in all, this was an easy thing to make and I’ll definitely be trying out some savory fillings as well as some apple and pineapple fillings. Thanks for such a great challenge! LOVED it!

The recipe for the dough and the original Apple Strudel can be found here

I made my own filling of:

3 cups thinly sliced peaches
1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP flour

Mix together and let set while stretching your dough. Note: I also brushed melted butter on my strudel halfway through the cooking time. The crust was very tender and flaky.