Apple Strudel

For this month's DB Challenge, Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks challenged us to apple strudel. Coming from a German family, I have had this dish at many holidays. However, I have never actually made one myself until this month. My grandmother, who usually makes the strudel, always tells us how hard it is and how much time it takes. Looking at the finished product, I did not really think it would be that hard, and instead thought that the difficulty she had came from her age.

I was wrong.

Making the dough and the filling was really easy. Even filling the dough and wrapping it up was not that hard. What was hard was the stretching of the dough. This is a very important step because if the dough is not stretched thin enough, you do not get numerous, flaky layers. Needless to say, I spent a fair amount of time stretching the dough until it was tissue paper thin, being extra careful not to create large holes and failing. I ended up with a 2 x 2.5 foot rectangle with a fair number of holes after 45 minutes of careful stretching. By that time, I accepted the fact that I would not end up with perfect dough on the first try and went ahead and filled and baked it.

In the end, presentation does not always matter. My strudel did not look the best, but it tasted pretty good. Even though it was tough, I had a fun time making it, and will definitely give it another go.....eventually. For now, I will leave the strudel baking to my grandmother and sympathize with her when she tells of the difficulty.

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 crumbs
strudel 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.

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.

A Rich and Decadent Cheesecake

This was my first Daring Bakers' Challenge, so I was excited to see how it would turn out. When I saw that the challenge was cheesecake, I was pretty sure this was going to be a fun experience. This was made more true by the fact that Jenny, the host, of Jenny Bakes gave us a basic recipe and then gave us the freedom to add any flavor and crust we wanted to as long as we used the recipe as a base. The recipe was Abbey’s, who is a friend of Jenny’s, and as far as cheesecake recipes go, it is very basic and simple. From other cheesecakes I have made, this batter is runnier, but the flavor of the finished product is so rich because of the extra cream.

One of the things I enjoy most is baking things for other people to enjoy, and this challenge gave me that opportunity. I am not a fan of cheesecake, but in college, I have quite a few friends who love cheesecake. So, lucky for me (or them, depending on how you look at it), I had someone to give my finished product to. Since I wasn’t going to be eating the cheesecake, I chose my recipe based on something I knew my friends liked: chocolate.

After it was all said and done, I chose to make a chocolate-raspberry cheesecake. Instead of using a cup of sugar, I split the cup between sugar and honey. When I can, I like to use honey instead of or substitute some in because I like the texture and flavor that it provides. Anyway, these are the flavors that I wanted, so the next step was to find something that would give me a good raspberry flavor. I didn’t want the raspberry flavoring to be overpowered by the cream cheese, so finding something strong enough was key. Eventually, I settled on raspberry schnapps because of the strong flavoring and aroma. I also wanted to change the crust a little bit, so instead of graham crackers, I used vanilla cookies which are akin the vanilla wafers.

When I brought the finished product to my friends, they were all impressed, not only with the looks, but also with the taste. According to them, the texture was wonderful and it tasted amazing. They were also fans of all the different flavors. All in all, I think that this was a very successful first Daring Bakers' Challenge, and I can't wait for the next one

Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake

(makes one 9-inch cheesecake)

Crust Ingredients:

2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1 stick butter, melted

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. raspberry schnapps

Cheesecake Ingredients:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz. each, softened

½ cup sugar

½ cup honey

3 large eggs

1 cup heavy cream

3 tbsp. raspberry schnapps

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Ganache Ingredients:

¾ cup heavy cream

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp raspberry schnapps

Fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a pan of water into the oven for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients. Press the crust into the bottom of a 9-in cake pan, making sure the bottom is coated evenly.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Take two cups of the batter and place it into a small mixing bowl. Melt the semisweet chocolate, either using a double boiler or a microwave. Mix the melted chocolate into the 2 cups of batter, stirring until the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout.

5. Add the raspberry schnapps to the batter in the mixing bowl, being sure to stir thoroughly so that the raspberry flavor is evenly incorporated.

6. Pour ½ of the raspberry batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Next, slowly pour the chocolate batter on top, making sure to make an even layer on top of the raspberry layer. Tap the pan again. Lastly, top with the remaining raspberry batter, taking care not to pour too fast, thus causing the layers to become uneven. Again, tap the pan.

7. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. Since we are using a cake pan, there is not worries about the water leaking into the pan.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Remove the pan from the water bath, close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from the oven.

7. Let it finish cooling on the counter. Meanwhile, to make the ganache, heat the cream until it starts to boil. Separate the cream into two small containers, one with ¼ cup of cream and the other with ½ cup of cream. Stir the bittersweet chocolate into the ½ cup of cream until mixed. Stir the white chocolate into the ¼ cup of cream until well mixed. Combine the honey and schnapps in another bowl.

8. Remove the cheesecake from the pan by running a knife around the edge and then inverting it over a plate. Flip the cheesecake over. Spread the bittersweet chocolate ganache over the top of the cheesecake, making an even layer. After it has set for a couple of minutes, drizzle the honey-raspberry mixture over the ganache. Finally, drizzle the white chocolate ganache and then run a fork through it to create a swirling effect. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

9. Place in the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy!

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Please visit Jenny Bakes to see the original recipe for Abbey's infamous cheesecake.