Apfelstrudel

Austria

Also known as Apple Strudel

About Apfelstrudel

Apfelstrudel is Austria's famous apple pastry, made by rolling a filling of sliced apples, sugar, cinnamon and raisins inside layer upon layer of paper-thin dough. Buttery toasted breadcrumbs soak up the apple juices so the pastry stays crisp.

The real skill is in the dough. Bakers stretch it by hand over a cloth-covered table until it is so thin you can supposedly read a newspaper through it. The strudel technique is thought to have reached Vienna through Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, which also gave the world baklava's layered pastry.

In Viennese cafés Apfelstrudel is served warm, dusted with icing sugar, with whipped cream, vanilla sauce or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is a staple of Austrian coffee-house culture and of Alpine cooking in Germany and northern Italy too.

Ingredients

• flour
• apples
• raisins
• sugar
• cinnamon
• breadcrumbs
• butter
• lemon juice