How about a slice of German Apfelstrudel? Yes? Then make your own! I'll show you how, mkay?
For the dough you need:
1/2 pound of flour
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
1/2 cup warm milk
2 tbsp. oil
1tsp. sugar
put it all in a mixing bowl and start kneading...
The secret to a great strudel is the dough - you have to really work it.
I always knead by hand, for about 10-15 minutes. You may have to add more milk or more flour - you'll know when you start kneading. It should feel like a light play-doh. Once the dough is done,
you put it into a small metal bowl, fill a pot with hot water and set the bowl with the dough into the pot. Makes sense? No? Here's what it looks like:
Make sure no water gets into the bowl, cover the whole thing with a towel and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes. That's probably how long it'll take for you to cut 4 pounds of apples...
(Now would also be a good time to preheat your oven to 355°F)
For the filling you need:
4 pounds of apples (Fuji or Spartan work really well)
breadcrumbs, unseasoned
3 oz. chopped hazelnuts
raisins and cinnamon - if you want
oil for pulling the dough
Pulling the dough you say? What the heck is that you say? Let me tell you... Once the apples are cut, your dough is ready to go. Cut it in thirds and keep the pieces covered in the bowl until you need them.
Take one third of the dough and flatten it a bit, put it onto a large dish towel and pour a bit of oil on top, about like this:
Now, starting in the middle and working your way out, gently pull the dough until it is see-through-thin. I admit this part might take some practice and you may want to have a drink or two to loosen yourself up a bit. If the dough needs more oil to keep from ripping, add some more. If you need another drink to keep from throwing the whole thing against the wall - go ahead.
Once it looks like this, you're golden and ready to put on the filling. Start with some breadcrumbs, then a sprinkling of chopped hazelnuts and on top of that the apples and raisins.
Now roll it up by lifting one side of the towel and pulling it across, like this:
Fold up the edges and roll it directly from the towel onto a baking sheet. Repeat two more times - you'll end up with three strudels.
Bake (middle rack) for about 50-55 min., then turn off the oven and leave the strudel in there until it's cooled off. And it'll look like this:
And then, before it goes into mah belly it looks like this:
That was exhausting - I think I'll need another piece of strudel...