Easy Apple Strudel Recipe for a Quick Dessert

If you check out classic recipes for apple strudel, puff pastry is not listed as an ingredient.

However, we are making a Tarantino movies marathon, and this weekend was Inglourious Basterds time. I don't know if you've seen the movie or not, but there's a scene there where two of the characters are eating German apple strudel or at least 'a decent interpretation' of it, as one of the movie characters calls it.

Anyway, I started craving apple strudel only by thinking of that scene. Since it was Sunday evening and making apple strudel dough was out of the discussion, I decided to make some adjustments to end up with an easy apple strudel recipe.

Because the result was more than satisfying, let me teach you how to make apple strudel, the easy way.

• Take your pastry sheet, roll it out and leave it rest.
• Peel your apples, remove the core, and cut them into chunks. You don't want your apple pieces to be too large. Somewhere around 1 cm should be perfect.
• Add the apple chunks with the cinnamon, butter, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla paste, 2 tbsp of water, and lemon juice in a saucepan.

‍

‍

• Let them cook at medium heat until all the butter has melted, the apples are smooth, and a thick sauce coats everything.

‍

‍

• Cut the puff pastry into 8 equal squares (yes, I cut them only in 4, but that is too big of a portion for one person; trust me on that.)
• Take 4 of the squares and make cages cuts using a pastry roller cutter. If you don't have one, then simply pinch the dough with the fork so the heat could not accumulate within the strudel and to make the dough burst.

‍

‍

• You will need a baking tray topped with parchment paper. Take each remaining square, place it on the prepared tray and add the hot composition in the middle of each.

‍

‍

• Using your finger, brush the edges of each piece with a little bit of water. That will create a glue that will keep the dough pieces together.
• Place the caged dough pieces on top of the filled ones. Press gently with your finger to seal the deal. To be 100% sure that your filling won't come out while baking, take a fork and press the edges.

‍

‍

• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden in the preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius (400 F).
• While this happens, you can focus on the sauce. The sauce is optional, and you can replace it with whipped cream but trust me that you don't want to do that.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugars, cornstarch, and vanilla paste.
• Heat the milk in a saucepan. You don't want it to be boiling hot. It just needs to be warm. Pour it over the egg mixture and stir to combine.
• Return everything to the pan and let it cook on low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring every second of the time. When the sauce has formed (remember, you are looking for a sauce and not a vanilla custard), take it off heat. You can reheat it if necessary at low heat.
• When the strudels are ready, take them out of the oven and let them rest for 2-3 minutes. Serve them with warm vanilla sauce.

Is this the best apple strudel recipe? Well, I can only tell you that it is a very delicious alternative for a quick and easy dessert.

Is it even a traditional apple strudel recipe? Definitely not, but to make an apple strudel recipe from scratch, you will need more than an hour to prepare. I promise to make the classic dish in the future and talk about the dough and how to handle it.

Now, regarding the apple strudel origin, this recipe is a very old Austrian one, dating from 1697. Even so, it took it 100 years to really become popular. Anyhow, since during that time Austria was part of the powerful Habsburg Empire, its cuisine had many interesting influences. Actually, the strudel dough was inspired by the Ottoman Empire's baklava.

As a suggestion, for a full Austrian experience, you can prepare this dessert in the same day with our Ski Slope Breakfast.

* I wanted to make this recipe a 2 person serving, but we ended up sharing each piece, so you either do as we did or simply cut the dough as instructed and not as in the images.

** If you don't like apples or simply want another fruit, I am sure that you can recreate this dessert using pears, for example.

*** If you are not comfortable making egg sauces on direct heat, use a double boiler. It will take a little longer, but you won't make scrambled eggs.

**** Don't forget to tag us on Instagram when making this dish.