Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Daring Bakers' Strudel

Daring Bakers' Award Winning Strudel
The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

The award winning strudel I baked Apple, chocolate and coconut
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Apple, coconut, Chinese five spice, red wine, and cacao sauce strudel
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Poppy seed and sweet cream cheese strudel
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When I saw that the challenge was strudel I thought yipppppps isn't that when you get some soft dough and stretch it so that it's thinner than paper almost transparent, while at the same time it must remain strong enough to hold the rich filling and wrap some finely chopped apples, nuts and spices and bake the lot. I thought that stretching the dough was a highly skilled technique that took many years of practice and that this was going to be a REAL challenge. But as usual I thought to myself “You only gain skills by doing it even if it is only going to be an average job”. I made up the dough and let it is rest for a few hours. The vinegar and the resting helps the gluten in the flour to relax and when its ready the dough loses its elasticity but stays resistant enough to hold the filling. Then I began to stretch and stretch and....

Well I'm getting ahead of myself firstly make up the dough (see recipe below) then you place the dough on a floured sheet and gently spread it out using the back of your hands,expanding it gradually in all directions with your knuckles. If the pastry has been properly kneaded, the result will be a thin, transparent sheet of pastry. It doesn't matter if the pastry has some small tears. When the pastry is fully extended, the filling is distributed on top and then, with the aid of the sheet, the pastry is rolled up on itself to obtain the characteristic strudel form. The sheet is also useful for transferring the strudel to the baking sheet.

Strudel is a simple pastry, which is assembled in layers, brushed with clarified melted butter in such a way that once baked, it looks like puff pastry. Clarified butter is essential as it allows the layers of pastry to puff well and separate from one another. If common melted butter is used, the whey present in it would soak the pastry and wouldn't let it puff as well.

How to make clarified butter
Using clarified butter seemed to make a more crispy end result. A small point but usually it is many small things working together (to make the pastry flaky and crispy) that makes for a wonderful end result.

Clarified butter (or ghee as it is called in India) is very easy to make. Just melt the butter slowly. Let it sit for a bit to separate it will form three layers
1. foam on top (there is only a little of this)
2. clarified butter layer (this is thickest layer it is coloured light yellow) and
3. whey (milk solids) on the bottom ( a smallish layer of white liquid).
Skim off the foam that rises to the top, and gently pour the butter off of the milk solids, which have settled to the bottom. A stick (8 tablespoons) of butter will produce about 6 tablespoons of clarified butter.

I thought that I would go for it and do several until I got it right and strudel stretching would be another skill that I would acquire because for the Daring Bakers' challenges.

The first few I did worked out OK but I wasn't very satisfied but I did work out how to stretch the dough out to twice the recommended size and I got some idea about the amount of filling and the number of strudel layers needed to make a nice dessert.

The strudel pastry is a wonder to work with, it actually wants to help you stretch it as large as possible.

I recommend to all bakers try this recipe it is a must to have in your skill set.

Refrigeration seemed to work really well for my sausage rolls, berry and the cherry strudels they were still good 5 days later with flaky layers on top - cool to room temp then cover loosely with paper (place a few pieces of paper loosely around the strudels this traps any moisture released into the air-tight container from the cooling pastries) put into the fridge in an air-tight container wait until it is the same temp as the fridge remove paper and keep the item in the container enjoy for the next few days fresh and crisp. Refrigeration has a very drying effect on foods so it is always better to cover food (also it stops your pastry picking up flavours from other foodstuffs) so keep the strudel in a container to retain freshness and prevent it becoming to dry.

The process of making a strudel

Stretching the dough
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It is paper thin
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Filling placed on the stretched dough (breadcrumbs have been spread over the dough) this case potato, chilli sausages and onion gravy filling
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Rolling the filling in the dough
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Rolled and filled strudel ready for the oven
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Glazed strudel with nigella seed topping
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Baked strudel
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In fact this strudel was a total disaster I forgot to spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using my hands. And so it wasn't anywhere near as flaky as the other strudels I did and the pastry was very bland. But you can see the importance of spreading the toasted breadcrumbs (which I did) over the dough because the crumbs make little pockets of air that expand which helps to separate the layers apart. Butter which contains water/fat does the rest of the separating by creating steam and adds flavour to the pastry. As you can see I got reasonable separation of the layers even without the butter. This was very instructive to me because it explains a lot why we do the steps we do in the recipe. The DBers is always a learning experience for me!!!

Another thing I found out was that even slight temperature changes (from draughts etc) while stretching the dough will make it very tough, in my case I left the dough on the counter that has the hot water system (which makes the counter slightly warmer than the rest of the room counters and table) and I found that stretching the dough immediately would result in a tough pastry now I leave the dough to rest on the another counter that is the same temperature as the table I will be stretching the dough. This little thing really made a huge difference to the end result.

Also my neighbour suggested using clarified butter because the whey in normal butter makes the pastry soggy this tip made a great difference.

The numerous strudels I made

Cherry strudel
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Mixed berries, preserved fig and cream cheese and tropical fruits
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I'm very eager for this challenge since I have no experience with this pastry and I had to make a savoury strudel. Since I have a lot of cold roast veggies in the refrigerator I thought I would do roasted potato, roasted whole garlic, roasted red Spanish onion, oyster mushrooms, with oyster sauce filling. I coated the strudel with nigella (black onion) seeds and pepper. It smelt wonderful while it was baking. I followed the advice I got from other DBers (especially Kristine-CA) and only did 2 or 3 layers of the pastry. Yes they are much much better with a few layers and the ratio of filling to pastry seems to matter a lot.

I'm a little amazed how 2 or 3 layers of paper thin pastry and can hold this filling, you can see how soft the veggies were I could cut them perfectly cleanly and the slice held together. These were great I really liked them a lot one of the better savoury treats I've had in a long time. Also I liked how you can see the whole garlic and the mushrooms in different slices.

Strudel of roasted potato, roasted whole garlic, roasted red Spanish onion, oyster mushrooms, with oyster sauce filling
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Strudel of apple, coconut, Chinese five spice, red wine, and cacao sauce strudel. I pre-poached the apples in the red wine and five spice cooled and then added some fresh coconut and the cacao powder. It formed a very thick filling for the strudel. I glazed the strudel in icing sugar and cacao powder. I made sure that the apple flavour was predominate and the rest were over- and under-tones. Five spice has mainly cinnamon, and smaller amounts of nutmeg, aniseed, chilli and orange peel. This was very nice and perfect for a sophisticated afternoon tea. I think I got the hang of doing the pastry and the filling.

Strudel of apple, coconut, Chinese five spice, red wine, and cacao sauce
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Beef Wellington Strudel
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I first seared the outside of the veal roast to get a nice dark brown colour and let it cool to room temp and then wrapped it in the strudel pastry and then into the oven for 30 mins. Make sure the roast is the correct size to cook in that time. In fact it was really good and the guests *oooed and umhhhed* and were impressed and the meat was just right - rare for me and my guests. There will be some liquid but I put some extra breadcrumbs on the bottom to absorb it the pastry will tear a little at the bottom because of the expanding crumbs but that is no real problem in fact it makes the top look even better because the tears show off the many layers of the Wellington.
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Good news
I put in this strudel (very reluctantly actually kicking and screaming I kept saying it was a huge waste of time) into a big pastry competition and I got first prize in the professional section there were over 40 entries!!!

Award winning strudel of apple, chocolate and coconut
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And this is only my sixth strudel I've ever made I'm so very proud (I was too embarrassed to mentioned it to the judges when they awarded the prize a $200 book voucher). They said they were impressed with and I quote its many flaky layers, authentic rustic looks, the flavour combination apple, chocolate and coconut and the filling had a mouth-melting jelly consistency. LOL LOL I actually laughed out loud when they said that! I'm still in shell shock mode. Thanks to Kristine-AC especially and the other DBers for the great advice.


I made these in a hurry for a child's party.

Top left Sausage rolls Top right Green figs/sweet cheese
Bottom left Cherries/sweet cheese Bottom right Blueberries/sweet cheese
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I made a poppy seed and sweet cream cheese strudel for a party (this was requested as a nice surprise for the party girl).

Poppy seed and sweet cheese strudel
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I think that I understand how to do strudels now and only after 14 of them! This was a FUN challenge for me and I just love how the other BDers also found the dough a wonder to work with. Nearly everyone expressed fear when approaching strudel dough strectching yet all overcame this most excellent challenge. Thank you again to our hosts Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks.

Apple Strudel
Preparation time
Total: 2 hours 15 minutes – 3 hours 30 minutes
15-20 min to make dough
30-90 min to let dough rest/to prepare the filling
20-30 min to roll out and stretch dough
10 min to fill and roll dough
30 min to bake
30 min to cool

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)
1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.
3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.
4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.
5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers
1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.
2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).
3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.
4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.
Tips
- Ingredients are cheap so we would recommend making a double batch of the dough, that way you can practice the pulling and stretching of the dough with the first batch and if it doesn't come out like it should you can use the second batch to give it another try;
- The tablecloth can be cotton or polyester;
- Before pulling and stretching the dough, remove your jewellery from hands and wrists, and wear short-sleeves;
- To make it easier to pull the dough, you can use your hip to secure the dough against the edge of the table;
- Few small holes in the dough is not a problem as the dough will be rolled, making (most of) the holes invisible.

Happy birthday to faery's-kitchen one of my favourite bloggers
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92 comments:

glamah16 said...

You really went to town on this challenge and all looks excellent. Thank you for your insight on the forums too.

debbmarie said...

Congrats on your award winning strudel. I most enjoyed reading all the flavor combinations you came up with. Each one looks like an award winner to me!

Kitchenlander said...

WOW! So, when are you going professional and do this full time??

Cakelaw said...

Fabulous Audax! You blitzed this challenge - and won an award. Congrats on this. So many streudels to choose from, so little time ...

Eat4Fun said...

Audax... WTG! Congratulations on your award! You really got into this challenge and experimented around with the dough and the filling. It all looks delicious. Great job!

John

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

You take the Daring Bakers to an entirely new level as usual.
Congratulations, once again, on that win.
I'm not sure I am qualified to do this, but I'm think you deserve to be called the "Strudel King". :)

Lisa said...

Aus, I LOVE THEM ALL, and they're all perfect. However, if I had to choose right now, I'd love to try the poppy seed-cheese. It's making my mouth water like crazy! Beautifully done all around! Layers galore!

Ria Mathew said...

Mr.Express u r sure right that you have only 2 hands?? :P I have no words to describe...but it was such a nice to see all your successful attempts in strudel making!!!WTG!! Were u strudel making everyday?? ;D Great job!! Keep up the energy!!And a BIG congratulations on your award!! :)

Sugar Daze said...

I love all your step-by-step photos. These look so good!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Audax, you really must be applauded for all the work you did for this challenge :) I really appreciated all of your step by step photos in the gallery so I knew exactly what to expect when making it. The beef wellington strudel is inspired as are all of them!

Deeba PAB said...

YOU KIDDING ME...can I see all those varieties or am I dreaming? WOW...just awesome! Lovely pictures too. I like the tip about clarified butter. Maybe that would have made mine flakier. Next time I'll use your tips & your filling suggestions too. You are quite the 'STRUDEL QUEEN'!!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Another great challenge! Your strudels looks marvelous and so good! I love your choice of fillings!

Cheers,

Rosa

MAHIMA said...

Oh man.... lovelyyyy flavours....
All of em are awesome
great job!

Kristine said...

Audax: you really are a Strudel God! Mastering the dough is one thing, but you've really got some fantastic and interesting fillings. Congrats on the award too. Kristine

Zita said...

I'm going to call you the queen of strudels from now... all the strudel flavors you've made are all to die for :)

Dharm said...

Words fail me! This is just excellent! I love all the different flavours you did. simply fantastic.

peasepudding said...

you are truly the master strudel baker with all the fillings you have tried, all look wonderful! My favourite was with the poppy seeds and cream cheese, mmmm

zorra said...

I'm impressed! All these wonderful Strudels, wow!
When I look at your dough I could stretch mine probably more.

Anonymous said...

Audax you are such a freaking rockstar! First prize!?! I must say, I'm not surprised, because you've got such mad baking skillz.
I can't get over all the variations you made. I do think there is a savory strudel in my future.

tonic said...

You are the strudel master!!! They all look delicious!

Beth said...

Thanks for all of your early posts on the DB forum. Your photos and commentary was really helpful. Congrats on your award, too!

kat said...

Wow, you just went crazy with the fillings! I'm like you & was happy to get to try a new skill!

Simones Kitchen said...

O my god Audax!! How many strudels did you make?? I lost count halfway through but the flavour combinations are just great and definitely worth a try!
Congratulations on your (well deserved) price! That deifinitely looks like a winner!

sweetakery said...

Thank you for dropping by & for the sweet comments! Simply amazed at your affects, the numerous versions you made just look so tempting yum! Great work!

Natalie, aka "Sheltie Girl" said...

You did a beautiful job on all your strudels. Congratulations on your strudel that won an award.

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

NOT SO VANILLA said...

I bow down to the QUEEN of all thing Strudel!!! Audax, you creations are amazing!
I have a question about the poppyseed filling. Is that the one you can buy pre-made, the sweetened kind? I see it here but I never really know how to use it. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Not So Vanilla

Valérie said...

I've been following your numerous creations on the forum, but it's still impressive to see them all gathered together. I'm still shaking my head in amazement. Bravo, Audax!

Chou said...

Audax, Wow, what a great experience! I didn't think about how the bread crumbs would help create air pockets, but that's exactly what they do! Cool. I'm so excited about your award--virtual high fives!

Anonymous said...

Oh My goodness, you are the clear winner this month! I loved seeing all your variations and your tips on the boards. Thanks!! Great job!

NOT SO VANILLA said...

Audax your the best!!!! thanks for the recipe!
xo

Wolf said...

I lost count of how many strudels you made. LOL

alana said...

14 Strudels! You are the master! And your flavors are incredible. Excellent work, and congrats on the award.

Sue said...

Excellent! So many great combinations! The poppy and sweet cream sounds yummy!

CONGRATS on your first place award!!!
Well deserved:)

Jen Yu said...

Great job on your challenge and glad that you've taken a shine to it. It's always good to learn how to do things!

Yasmeen said...

You sure have mastered strudel making,congrats on the win:)

Raje said...

Wow Audax!!! The variety of strudels you made are amazing. thanks for all the tips too. this was my first DB Challenge and your posts in the forum helped a lot.

Kathleen said...

Wow - all of the fillings sound delicious! Congrats on winning the contest! And, on what I'd say is a VERY successful completion of a DB challenge :)

tina said...

As usual, you've done a fantastic job. I really admire your energy to try so many variations.

Karen | Citrus and Candy said...

I'm in awe at how many you made. Amazing! And here I am, barely churning out one :P Nice job!

Jenny said...

You truly are an inspiration for us other Daring Bakers! Thank you for the tip on using clarified butter between the layers - I will definitely remember that for my next attempt as I wasn't 100% happy with this one.
Fabulous job - and congrats on your award winning strudel!

Anonymous said...

I still cannot believe you made so many awesome versions of the strudel. You are definitely the Strudel Master for this challenge! Thanks for bringing the Force with you and all of the tips!

raquel said...

audax--congratulations on winning the contest! i am not surprised. i have following your "strudel-mania" at the db forum and i must say i wanted to taste all the fillings you made. that poppy seed looks so yummy but i may have to try your winning entry. awesome, awesome job!!

Anzj said...

Oh my god. You have made a LOT of strudels! I was also contemplating about a poppy seed version... don't you just lóve that stuff!??

Junie Moon said...

Your strudel variations are amazing. Most excellent!

I really appreciated your thoughts ("You only gain skills by doing it even if it is only going to be an average job”) about trying new things. That's why I joined the Daring Kitchen, to learn, grow, and face new challenges. Thus far, it's been a fabulous experience.

Speedbump Kitchen said...

Great job, thanks for all your posting on the DB forum, it helped me out quite a bit!

awoz said...

Oh my god, I am in strudel heaven.So many variety and wonderfull flavor:0 My personnal favorite would have been the poppy and cheese one.But I would love to try them all:)

art and lemons said...

You have outdone yourself yet again! Congrats on your award!

Judy said...

All your strudels look terrific and delicious! Congratulations on your award, clearly well deserved.

Unknown said...

I always learn so much from your posts. Where do you live, I'm coming over. You can make me the one with the mushrooms, and the poppyseed one for dessert. :)

Anjanette said...

You have got to be the most prolific DBer out there! Love it all. i did a rush job, but was still happy enough that i want to make more and I have all of these ideas floating around. I agree, the dough is a dream to work with.

Ruth said...

Seriously your a strudel making machine. Congrats on the award. You rock

Arlette said...

It seems you was having great fun working with this dough, and the flavours you choose are excellent. Bet the flavours is as equal.

great job on this beautiful work.

Faery said...

W O W I LOVE all your strudels they all are award winning and the dough looks beautiful, LOVE the picture of the dough over the newspaper it is great.
I'm thinking of moving next to your house Audax :)

Rachel said...

excellent challenge.....a lot of your tips on the forum were very very useful! Thanks.

Anita said...

OMG - you made so many varieties of strudels! Did you eat them all month long? :) Hehehe. Great combinations of flavours, you've done really well.

A said...

Amazing job!!

Gosh all those streudels + this super long post must have taken forever! ur speed and dedication inspires me :)

Faery said...

Audax THANK YOU SO MUCH this is a wonderful suprise and an honour,very yummy too, I am so happy. When I made my blog my two main ideas were to pratice English and make friends, maybe my English is not getting any better ;) but I have one friend in Australia I am sure and you have one in Venezuela.
Thanks Audax this means a lot to me :) MUAACH! that was a big kiss

Ally said...

You are just amazing! congrats on the first prize, you definitely deserve it! : )

ally

Lauren said...

Wow!! Thats a lot of strudels =D. Congrats on your win, you did an amazing job!!

Anonymous said...

Audax, your blog is so inspiring! I love your poppy seed strudel, it looks absolutely stunning!

Celeste said...

Wow Audax, I'm so impressed by all your strudels this month...you out-did yourself! They all look so perfect...Keep up the excellent work! ;)

gine said...

mmmm ... lovely step-by-step explaination :-)!! Looks delicious! :-)

Jenny Tan said...

I am still amazed at how MANY strudels you have gone through this month!! W-O-W! You must be a pro w/ the dough by now!! ;) Well done!! :)

Laurie said...

What fabulous fillings!

Fahrenheit 350° said...

Of course you won! These all are incredible! I loved reading and watching your posts on the DB forum, you gave excellent advice in this post and I can't wait to try again with all of your input, i.e. the clarified butter! You rock! Go Daring Baker's!

Leanne said...

So many strudels, but my favorite (in what I imagine would be the one for me to make) is the poppyseed. Mm.

isa said...

All these wonderful strudels, wow! You are the strudel master!
Wonderful job!

NKP said...

Wow, you really rocked the strudel!
Please ship any and all leftovers to me. Thank you. :)

jillian said...

It looks like you really mastered this! Congrats on the award!

Laura said...

Oh my! You have been busy! Wonderful creations!

Louby Lou said...

Wow what amazing strudels! They are fantastic, and congratulations on the award winning strudel! You are the 'Strudel King'!!

And thank you for the kind words on my blog. I'm really enjoying the Daring Baker's Challenges.

Take care!

The Purple Foodie said...

THe strudel looks so, so good! I wish I hadn't missed the date :(

Chantal said...

WOW!!! I've coined a term in your honour: Audax Fever!

It's when you "become" the challenge, lol. Each time you posted a different variation on the forum I just went wow!

When I grow up I wanna make strudels just like you :)

Anonymous said...

What can I say, except maybe...WOW.

Way to make all those different fillings, and what delicious filling choices! I must admit, I had a lot of fun manipulating the dough - I will surely be returning to this recipe!

Isolated Foodie said...

Wow! Wow! Wow! I thought the apple/coconut/chocolate was my favorite, until I saw the poppyseed! I had originally wanted to make a poppyseed strudel, but I have shopping restrictions and I couldn't find bulk poppyseeds.

Lisa said...

You so deserved that award!! An astonishing array of creations - how wonderful!
...And your ricotta gnocchi have *almost* inspired me to join the daring cooks too... though I think I'll just try the recipe :-)

linda said...

You're a real strudel making machine :) I must say that I was very happy to see all of your comments and tips on the DB forum, they were really helpful to all of us!
Glad you liked the challenge :)

Angelica said...

i find myself looking forward to see all the wonderful variations you came up with every month... you never fail to amaze me!

Brilynn said...

Wow! You went above and beyond! The poppy seed one looks great!

Gabriella said...

Great job! Beautiful strudel!

CRUISNDIVA said...

WOW, great job as always Audax! I love all the different strudels, they all look delicious!

Babeth said...

Great job! You did as well a Wellington beef :-)

fontnazi said...

As ever, I am in awe at the gusto with which you embraced this challenge! And clarified butter- did I miss that in the instructions? My strudel tasted good but the pastry could have been puffier. Now I'm going to have to try it again to see if I can get it right doing it your way. And congrats on your win!

Unknown said...

Hello Audax!!Thank you for visiting my Blog.

I'm really impressed with yours strudels, all looks so appetizing!!
You are very hardworking, very good yours advice (next time I'll try to do it with clarified butter method), yours photo of transparent dough is perfect (I couldn't do it with my dough, it was very brittle and nothing transparent) and all combination flavours are so delicious!!

Congratulations on your award winning strudel.

Hugs
Eva

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

I am still in awe with the sheer volume of strudel you produced!! Brava. :-)

CECIL said...

I don't even know what to say! You are just way over achiever!! <- And I am glad that you are, because I love all of them. Such a feast for eyes. Interesting use of Chinese Five Spice powder. And I love the idea of chili sausage and potato. Oh yum.

Holly said...

The poppy seed and sweet cheese version looks amazing! Well, they all do, but that one is mesmerizing me!

I absolutely loved this challenge and now you've inspired me to make it a few more times!

Y said...

What amazing looking strudels! The pastry looks like perfection itself.

Jude said...

That has to be the most unusual flavor combo I've ever seen on strudel, or any pastry for that matter. Would love to try it out.

Michele said...

Wow! You did an amazing job with these!

Anonymous said...

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nisha said...

The photos are delicious!!! I am not much of a cook, don't like to cook and least to bake ... but these photos may just motivate me to learn to swich on the oven!