Apple strudel (puff pastry)

Apple strudel is usually made with strudel dough and not puff pastry but I had ½ block of puff pastry in the freezer and wanted to use it. I also still had apples from my last foraging trip so I decided to use both ingredients together. Hence apple strudel with puff pastry.

I searched the internet for some recipes as my books had none and came up with a mix between Michael Wurm's recipe (https://inspiredbycharm.com/apple-strudel) and Beth Pierce's recipe (https://www.smalltownwoman.com/apple-strudel)

There is some work involved in this recipe and it is quite sweet. It really needs a small amount of glazing ( a lot less than what I used!) and a side scoop of ice-cream.

Serves: 4 persons.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup raisins
• 2 tbsp rum
• 350g apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• ½ cup demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp cornstach
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp water
• ½ block puff pastry (250g)
• 1 egg
• For the glaze:
• ¼ cup icing sugar
• ¼  tsp vanilla paste
• 1 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Mix the raisins and rum in a small bowl and soak for 1 hour.
   
   
   
2. Add to a pan the apples, butter, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and stir to combine. Cook on a low heat for 7 min or until the sauce starts to thicken. Set aside and allow the apple mixture to cool. Let the sauce thicken properly. I didn't and it ended up quite runny and escaped from the pastry casing.
   

   

   
   
   
3. Work the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface and roll it to a thin rectangle. Transfer the stretched dough onto baking parchment and this onto the baking sheet.
   

   

   
   
   
4. Place the cooled apple mixture down the middle ⅓ of the puff pastry.
   
   
   
5. Top with the raisins but drain out any remaining rum.
   
   
   
6. Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut horizontal strips along both the right and left outer thirds of the pastry.
   
   
   
7. Lightly moisten the ends of the strips with water and then fold the strips over the apple mixture at a downward angle. To create a braided look, first fold over a strip from the left, then a strip from the right and continue until all the strips are in place. I folded the top and tail of the strudel before starting to braid so to avoid the juice from escaping.
   

   

   
   
   
8. Using a paper towel, soak up the excess juice around the strudel.
9. Brush with a beaten egg.
   
   
   
10. Bake in a 200°C oven for 35-40 min or until golden brown. Allow the strudel to cool slightly. The liquid escaped from the pastry case and was hard so I cut it out with a knife.
    

    

    
    
    
    
11. Prepare the glaze: whisk together the vanilla paste, icing sugar and milk. Add more milk if necessary. The glaze should be thick but still can be drizzled.
    

    
    
    
12. Drizzle the glaze over the strudel. The strudel should be fairly cool before drizzling the glaze.
    
    
    
13. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice-cream.