Pastry chef Gale Gand found this family-favorite recipe in her Hungarian grandmother's recipe file.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Step 1
Melt 1/4 cup butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add apples and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup sugar and salt; stir until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Add raisins and cook until almost all liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts. Spread apple mixture in rimmed baking sheet; cool.
Step 2
Line another rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Melt remaining 1/2 cup butter. Transfer 1 large phyllo sheet to baking sheet (if using small phyllo, place 2 sheets of phyllo on baking sheet, overlapping slightly). Brush lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts. Repeat with 4 more large phyllo sheets (or 8 more small sheets), melted butter, sugar, and walnuts. Top with remaining phyllo sheet; brush with butter.
Step 3
Spoon cooled apple mixture lengthwise down phyllo, starting 3 inches in from 1 long side and leaving 2-inch border at short sides. Using parchment paper as aid, roll up strudel lengthwise. Place strudel, seam side down, on parchment. Tuck in ends to enclose filling. Brush strudel with butter; sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. DO AHEADCan be made 4 hours ahead. Chill.
Step 4
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake strudel until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Cool 15 minutes. Using serrated knife, cut into 8 slices. Sprinkle strudel with powdered sugar and serve withBurnt caramel ice cream.
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Reviews (6)
Back to TopThis is a very good recipe, but what really makes it sing is the soft simplicity of the very buttery apples and raisins in sharp contrast to the zing of the burnt caramel ice cream. And I took that caramel right to the smoke point. This is not an overly sweet dish; it's very buttery, so if you love that flavor, this is right up your ally. Just remember this is a Hungarian recipe, so it has a different aesthetic than a German recipe; as I was cooking down the apple mixture (which turned blueish in my cast iron skillet, interestingly...), I just had the same sense come over me as when I made goulash the first time. Maybe I'm overreaching with my associations, but this isn't about the sweet as much as it is about the same feeling you get when you eat homemade macaroni and cheese or other simple comfort foods. And then you roll it in baklava, and it takes it to another level as well! I pulled mine out of the oven and the sugar had melted and caramelized all over the baking sheet. I knew I was burning my tongue, but I didn't care as I just pried the stuff straight from the sheet to sample it. Oh, and they're not kidding about using the wax paper to help you roll it; you WILL tear the phyllo, otherwise. And you only need six sheets, so don't be like me and waste the others by not being conscientious and re-wrapping and refreezing the remainder! I'm not super experienced with phyllo, so I wasn't thinking about the possibility of leftovers until it was way too late. Make the recipe, but also make the ice cream; you won't be sorry! I had people nearly licking their plates...
deliusfan
Sarasota, FL
3/20/2011
I was at a pot luck a few months ago and someone made two strudels. I asked where she got the recipe and she sent me to this one. Replace the raisins with cranberries and you can taste what she made, and what I have been making religiously ever since. This is one of the best strudel recipes I've ever had, and that includes the strudel at the "Old Vienna Strudel Company" in Culver City, L.A. I use 5 apples if they are large and also cut back somewhat on the sugar. It makes two rolls of strudel, not one.
Anonymous
San Francisco, CA
2/15/2009
I agree with other comments that the apple filling, as written in the recipe, is too mild in flavor. I used brown sugar with the apples and added a bit of cinnamon as well. Didn't use raisins. Very good.
cholley
Maine
1/19/2009
This was good, but nothing special. I had left over phyllo dough and was looking for a strudel recipe to use it up. If I am going to take the time to work with phyllo dough and eat all the calories that go with the end product, I would prefer something that I would rate very good to excellent.
Anonymous
cape cod, ma
8/31/2008
Easily the best strudel I've ever had.
wolfcry
Bellingham, WA
3/3/2008
Nothing against Elsie, but no one has reviewed it & yet it is on the "highest rated" list. ?????
Anonymous
10/23/2007
