Apple Strudel – Almás Rétes – An authentic Hungarian pastry
“Q” What stands for the Hungarian Rétes (Strudel) ?
“A” Shaped pastry filled with a sugared fruit.
“Q” With what fillings may bake the Rétes?
“A” Layered embankments that can only be limited by imagination.
“Q” What are the most popular Hungarian fillings?
“A” Apple, cottage cheese, sour or sweet cherry, plum, poppy seed and mixture of fruits.
“Q” Are there only sweet strudel – making a traditional Rétes in Hungary?
“A” No, there are salty ones as well being baked for a long time. The filling can be with cabbage, mashroon, purple strudel with red wine, pumpkin-cottage cheese strudel.
You can’t get enough of any fillings of the Strudel Dough – Rétes! Hungarians love it any time of the day. The family will surely be happy for you if you make alot with all the variations.
Ingredients:
For the Strudel Dough: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup sour cream 1 tsp vinegar 1/4 tsp salt 2 large egg yolks (room temp) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tbs butter (melted) 1/2 cup warm water. Melted vegetable shortening: 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Steps to make the Strudel Dough: In a large bowl, blend flour, sour cream, vinegar, salt, egg yolks, baking powder, butter, and water. Knead for about 30 minutes. (The dough should be light and very smooth.) Cover and let rest for an hour.
For the Apple Filling: 10 large Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored and thinly sliced) 2 cups sugar (or to taste) 1/2 tsp salt, 20 dkg melted butter. Splash of lemon juice. Optional: 1 tbs cinnamon. Steps to make the Apple Filling: Mix together thinly sliced apples, 2 cups sugar (or to taste), 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbs optional cinnamon, 20 dkg melted room-temp. butter and a splash of lemon juice. Raisins and ground walnuts can be added, if desired. It will be extremely tasty.
Refrigerate, if not using immediately, but let it come to room temperature before filling the strudel dough. If a lot of juices have accumulated at the bottom, pour them off before placing on the strudel dough.
Assemble the Strudels: Cover a large table with a cloth and sprinkle it lightly with flour. Place dough in the center and roll it to about 1 inch thick.
Now almost ready to bake the Apple Strudel – Almás Rétes!
Now flour your hands lightly. Place hands, palms down, under the dough and stretch gently in all directions toward the edge of the table. While stretching, ease dough by lifting it gently. Be gentle to prevent tears!
When stretched to the thinness of tissue paper, trim off the thick edges (this can be kneaded, rolled and cut into noodles). Spread dough with melted shortening. Let dough rest 10 mins.
Sprinkle entire surface of dough with bread crumbs. Place apple filling all over the entire surface of the dough.
Preheat oven to 190C degree (375F.)Use the cloth to roll the strudel away from you. Cut into two strudels. Tuck in the ends. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and brush the entire surface of strudel with melted butter.
Bake 30 mins or until flakes start to separate and strudel is shiny and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Cut into slices and serve slightly warm. Depending on the fillings and taste, may add with ice cream or whipped cream.
© by Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 