Cherry Strudel

Cser Mama’s Cherry Strudel

Credit: Marika’s Kitchen

Strudel Dough

  • 700g All Purpose Flour (approx. 6 cups)
  • 5.69g Salt, (1 tsp.)
  • 113g unsalted butter, room temp (4 oz.)
  • 1 ¾ cups water
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
  • 1 Egg

Directions

  1. Add 6 cups flour and 1 tsp. salt to mixing bowl of Bosch or Kitchen Aid mixer. Pulse mixer whisks to incorporate salt and flour. Add pieces of softened butter sporadically into flour. Run mixer on low speed and mix until flour looks like cornmeal.
  2. In separate bowl add 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. vinegar to 1 ½ cups of the water, mix and set aside. Have additional ¼ cup water handy in case it is needed but keep it separate.
  3. After flour, salt and butter are like cornmeal, replace whisk beaters with dough hook and slowly add/trickle egg/water/vinegar liquid to mixing bowl into flour while on low speed. Continue to add additional water until dough is soft and a tiny bit sticky.
  4. Knead dough with dough hook for 15 minutes.
  5. Dust countertop with flour, remove dough from mixing bowl and gently knead dough between hands. (refer to video)
  6. Cut dough into four equal parts (approx.. ~426g) and knead each portion for a few minutes till surface is smooth and round.
  7. Using a rolling pin, roll each portion of strudel dough into a flattened disk shape, wrap with Saran Wrap and let rest on counter for approximately 60 minutes before stretching and preparing as strudel. Freeze whatever won’t be used for later.
    Notes:
  • If prepping strudel dough for future use, you can either store plastic wrapped portions in refrigerator for a day or two, or you can place wrapped disks in freezer quality zip lock bags for added protection against freezer burn and store in freezer for up to a month or two.
  • When ready to use, transfer dough from freezer to refrigerator a day in advance to allow dough to completely defrost before attempting to stretch. Butter has to be completely soft in dough to stretch to its full potential. Even the slightest thickness in portions of the stretched dough can create a doughy clump in baked pastry that can be disappointing. Do not defrost in microwave. DO not attempt to speed up any of the softening process with the microwave.

Instructions for Stretching Strudel Dough:

  1. Cover card table with clean cotton tablecloth and sprinkle/dust cloth surface with flour.
  2. Unwrap strudel dough and place in center of table. If dough is ready, it will pull easily and you will feel a release in the dough rather than resistance.
  3. Stretch dough starting from the center of the table and continually and steadily moving around the table, inching the dough little by little into a very thin beautiful parachute type covering… you can’t pull too much in any one spot at any one time.
  4. It will take time to develop a sense of knowing where to pull, and when…
    5. – How much is enough at one spot, and it being time to move to another spot to begin again… – When it is necessary to put your hands, palms facing down, toward center(ish) from beneath the stretched dough and “carefully” using the back side of your hands, to again, stretch the dough from the center… the goal is to get the dough over all the edges.
  5. Once dough has been stretched to cover table top and the ends hang over the edges of the table on all sides, wait a few minutes, maybe 5 or ten and allow dough to dry just a bit.
  6. Trim excess dough edges that hang over sides so that there is approximately 3 inches hanging on all sides (give or take. Don’t measure, you just need it to overhang so that it doesn’t shrink up and no longer drape over edges but you also do not want too much. Refer to pictures for what I mean.
    Notes:
  • One portion of dough(approx. ~426g) can be stretched over the surface of a cotton cloth covered 33in X 33in folding card table, or equivalent.
  • All sides accessible is preferred but some instructions encourage at least three sides of area to have an edge where dough can be stretched over, and then hang over, edges, implying that the end of a countertop could work if card type table is not available.

Cherry Strudel Filling

  • 2 cans Cherry Pie Filling or 24 oz. pitted sour cherries ,drained
  • 1 cup Cream of Wheat
  • 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  • 1/3 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2 cup water

Directions

  1. Toast cream of wheat in oil for a few minutes.
  2. Add water and stir, set aside to cool
  3. When cooled completely, stir in 1/4 cup sugar
  4. Sprinkle dough with approximately 3 of the 4 Tbsp. of melted butter, reserving some to brush outside of strudel roll before putting in oven.
  5. Sprinkle cream of wheat mixture evenly over stretched strudel dough.
  6. Spoon / sprinkle / splatter little clumps of cherry pie filling evenly over surface of stretched strudel dough.
  7. Using table cloth, fold edges over on ends/edges.
  8. Again, using table cloth, roll strudel like a jelly roll from one end to the other. (refer to pictures and video)
  9. Cut roll in half and gently place lengthwise on sprayed cookie sheet.
  10. Brush surface with melted butter.
  11. Bake in preheated 400* oven for approximately 35 minutes rotating sheet half way through for even baking of both rolls.
  12. Remove and cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

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