Recipe: Apple strudel from Trentino-Alto Adige

Method

We start the Strudel preparing the pastry. In a bowl, knead the butter - which must be at room temperature - together with sugar, lemon zest and vanilla sugar, until a homogeneous mass is obtained. Then add the milk, the egg, the flour and finally the yeast: at this point we can start to knead everything well. Recall that the consistency of the pastry should be soft and then put to rest for at least half an hour. It's time to think about the stuffing: peel and cut the apples into slices or pieces, depending on your preference, but if we use organic apples we can also keep the peel. In a bowl together with the golden breadcrumbs in butter, raisins, rum, pine nuts, cinnamon powder, vanilla extract and citrus peel. The original recipe includes the use of lemon, but we can give a more sweet and aromatic note also joining orange and bergamot. Apples have to soak up the liquid to get all the flavor. Meanwhile, turn the oven on at 180° and line a wide pan, with low sides, with oiled paper. Take the pastry and spread it on the surface previously dusted with flour, printing a rectangular shape with a length of about 50 cm and 30 wide.

Place the pastry on the baking paper, add the apple-based filling and roll the dough. To give the unmistakable browning of the Strudel, do not forget to brush the surface with the egg yolk. The cooking time in the oven is about 30-40 minutes. Once cooked, let the Strudel cool and then sprinkle with icing sugar.