Strudel

One of the best desserts is Strudel -or rétes in Hungarian-, because all you need is filo pastry and imagination to create a quick, easy and yummy treat. Some cooks like to use puff pastry to make them, but I prefer the traditional Hungarian way, so I use crunchy filo sheets for my strudels.

This dessert became popular in the 18th century through the Habsburg Empire and probably it's an upgraded version of Turkish baklava that is also made with filo pastry. Strudel is a popular dessert in Central European countries, but well known all around the world. The filling is normally sweet but nowadays there are many savoury strudels as well, for example, cabbage strudel in Hungary.

I will show you one method of how I prepare my strudels and three different fillings based on summer fruits and ingredients.

Here is the list of ingredients you will need for a few different kinds of strudels.

Ingredients

Strudel crust

3 filo pastry sheets
Melted butter

Curd cheese and apricot filling

250 g curd cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla paste or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod
3-4 apricots, without seed, in half
4 tbsp sugar
Ground cinnamon

Poppyseed and cherry filling

6 tbsp ground poppy seed
125 ml condensed milk
Zest of half lemon
2 handful of cherries or even better with sour cherries, without seed
4 tbsp sugar
Ground cinnamon

Apple, pear and semolina filling

2 apples
2 pears
1 tbsp butter
1 pinch of salt
6 tbsp fine semolina
200 ml water
4 tbsp sugar
Ground cinnamon

Serving options

Icing sugar
Toffee, chocolate or lemon sauce/glaze
Toasted nuts
Ice cream
Whipped cream
Fresh fruit

Instructions

Strudel - in general

Place a clean tea towel on your kitchen counter and place one filo sheet on it, then use a silicon brush and cover it with melted butter. Then place the next filo sheet on it, cover it with the butter again, and finally place the third sheet on the top.
Now your strudel is ready to fill, you can find the instructions for the different fillings below. *
To get a nice and not too flat result do not spread the filling on the whole surface of the pastry, just heap the whole filling up along the long edge of the pastry.
Fold in the pastry along the short edges, brush the long edge opposite the filing, with the melted butter. It will seal the strudel after you roll it up.
Roll up the strudel with the help of the tea towel, place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Cover the whole surface with melted butter and bake it at 180 °C till it will be golden brown and crispy.

Curd cheese and apricot filling *

Put the curd cheese, the egg yolk and the vanilla paste in a mixing bowl, and mix them with a fork, while breaking the large curd cheese clays a little bit.
Cover the filo sheet along the long edge with half of the curd cheese filling about 8 cm wide.
Place the apricot halves on the curd cheese and cover them with the other half of the curd cheese filling.
Sprinkle the top of the filling with cinnamon and add the sugar.
Go back to the general method and follow the steps from #3.

Poppyseed and cherry filling *

Heat up the condensed milk in a pan on medium heat then incorporate the poppy seed, lemon zest and a pinch of cinnamon, then remove from the stove and let it chill till room temperature.
Cover the filo sheet along the long edge with half of the poppy seed filling about 8 cm wide.
Place the cherries on the filling then cover them with the other half of the poppy seed filling.
Sprinkle the top of the filling with cinnamon and add the sugar.
Go back to the general method and follow the steps from #3.

Apple, pear and semolina filling *

Sear the semolina on butter with a pinch of salt, till it will be slightly golden brown.
Add the water and stir it till the small semolina parts starts to absorb the water and become bigger.
Remove the pot from the stove and cover it with a lid, let it chill till room temperature.
In the meantime peel the apples and pears, remove the core and cut the fruit into about 2x2 cm pieces. If you keep it in water and add the juice of a half lemon, the fruit won't become brown.
Cover the filo sheet along the long edge with half of the semolina filling about 8 cm wide.
Place the apple and pear pieces on the filling then cover them with the other half of the semolina filling.
Sprinkle the top of the filling with cinnamon and add the sugar.
Go back to the general method and follow the steps from #3.

Sprinkle your strudels with icing sugar then serve them with ice cream, sweet sauces, whipped cream, toasted nuts or fresh fruit.