Apple and carrot strudel

How to make an apple and carrot strudel . One of the sweet recipes that I like the most is for a few years, the strudel .

This all started on a vacation trip to Budapest with some friends from Allariz. There we got lost in their pastries filled with strudel of all fruits: strawberry, pear, apple, apricots, peach … all very good. So I just arrived in Madrid and I tried and it didn’t go very well.

My big mistake was using puff pastry. Until recently I discovered phyllo dough, a very fine dough that is used in Arab cuisine and in turn the closest thing to the type of strudel dough that I had tried in Budapest.

This strudel that I present today has a carrot, it seems strange but it fits very well with the apple. Incredibly they both look great together. We have also used a very special variety of apples that help make the filling very juicy and full of flavor. The apples Marlene® were grown in a privileged area of Alto Adige / Südtirol, Italy, at the foot of the Alps, are synonymous with guaranteed quality and integrated production.

They have seven varieties of apples that are identified by the European seal “Mela Alto Adige IGP” (Protected Geographical Indication), which guarantees their origin. We have used Red Delicious , easily identifiable by its attractive dark red color and which, in addition, gives that sweet touch to the filling of our recipe, a real discovery.

Strudel  means swirl in German, and as I mentioned above it is a dessert originating in Central Europe that combines the flavor of nuts with almost any type of filling. In this case it is fruit, Apfelstrudel or strudel with apple , but it can also be made salty (chicken, minced meat, bacon, with egg, peppers …). I hope you cheer up with this dessert at home, I’m sure you will prepare it several times. Totally yummy.

Preparation of the Strudel filling

1. We peel and core the Marlene ^® apples . Cut the apples into not very large pieces and add the lemon so that they do not rust.
2. We put a casserole over medium heat, introduce the butter and let it melt. When it is liquid, add the apple pieces and begin to brown, stirring with a wooden spoon. Spinning from time to time so they don’t burn for about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the raisins with the rum in a bowl and soak them for 30 minutes. We reserve.
4. Peel the carrots with a grater and cut them into very thin sheets (with the potato peeler). We put a casserole with hot water and add them to it. They will need about 15 minutes of cooking or until you see that they are soft. Drain well so that they do not have water and reserve to complete the filling.
5. When the apples are browned add the sugar with the cinnamon. We stir well to put all the ingredients together, as soon as we see that it changes color we add the drained carrot.
6. We remove the raisins from the rum and pour them with the nuts (previously chopped) in the casserole with the rest of the ingredients. Stir slowly with the spoon and after about 5 minutes remove from the heat.
7. We already have the filling prepared. It is best to prepare it overnight, we let it cool in the fridge and it is easier to work with it.

Preparation of the apple and carrot strudel

1. We start with the edge dough, this is a bit complicated to work but once you get the hang of the first sheet everything improves substantially.
2. Melt a little more butter (100 g) in the micro at low temperature for about 2 minutes. When it is liquid we prepare the work area.
3. The bowl with the butter, a silicone brush, a fine cotton cloth, the dough and the filling.
4. On top of the rag we put the first sheet of phyllo dough and spread it with butter with the brush, so on 3 times.
5. We add the filling on the stretched dough and begin to roll it up with the help of the rag, first the edges, folding them inwards as if it were a handkerchief.
6. Then sushi-style, from right to left pressing with the cloth. It has to be as if it were a gypsy arm but with a sharp edge.

Baking and final presentation of the Apple and Carrot Strudel

1. We beat the 2 egg yolks and paint the surface of the Strudel before putting it in the oven.
2. As with empanadas, it is best to add a few drops of milk to the yolks so that they do not burn quickly and hold up better.
3. We preheat the oven to 190º C and 5 minutes later we put the strudel for 25 minutes until it turns golden. The ideal temperature for baking the phyllo dough is between 190 and 200º C, no more and no less. At lower temperature you will not get a good result and at higher temperature you will burn.
4. We remove from the oven and let it cool.
5. Garnish with icing sugar and if you can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I assure you that it is an incredible dessert, the tender texture of the fruit, the phyllo dough and the contrast of the cold of the ice cream.

Remember that you have to lead a healthy life, a varied and balanced diet, in which all kinds of food have a place. Even those little crunchy strudel-like delights that satisfy body and mind.

A  perfect sweet recipe to spend with the little ones at home. Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this Marlene ^® apple strudel recipe . Do not miss any detail so that it comes out perfect.

Edged dough, tips for use and baking

• The phyllo dough is of oriental origin, it is basic in Greek and Turkish cuisine, being the base of the delicious baklava .  One of the desserts that I like the most in Arab cuisine.
• The phyllo dough is a very laborious dough that in the end is worked in very thin dough sheets and the one that uses several layers for the preparation of the recipe.
• It is one of those doughs that are used in crispy recipes that are prepared in the oven. As with the puff pastry, the oven should never be cold when we put the dough, but when working it should be as cold as possible.
• We must avoid exposing it to the air while we are not working with it and when we have everything prepared as I mention in the recipe take it out of the fridge, the cold is great.
• It is prepared by painting each leaf with butter in a liquid state, if it is clarified much better.
• The phyllo dough when baked breaks very easily so that we must serve it immediately after baking.
• For its conservation it must be hermetically closed in the fridge, it lasts about 3 months. We could also freeze it although it tends to crack a little when defrosting and then it is more difficult to work.