Striezel aux Pralinés Roses
The French take on the classic braided sweet bread becomes both beautifully decorative and...
Apple Strudel with Vanilla Ice Cream and Pumpkin Seed Oil
This classic Viennese dessert is served by chef Gerhard Fuchs in the Styrian style: with a drizzle of green-gold pumpkin-seed oil and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
For the strudel dough
| Ingredients (6 servings) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 250 | g | plain flour, plus extra to dust |
| 125 | ml | lukewarm water |
| 1 | egg yolk, lightly beaten | |
| 1 | pinch(es) | salt |
| 20 | ml | vegetable oil, plus extra to brush |
Preparation:
- Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix to bring the dough together.
- Turn out and knead into a smooth dough, form into a ball, brush with oil and leave to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
For the filling
| Ingredients (6 servings) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 6 | baking apples, peeled, cored and quartered | |
| 60 | g | butter, plus extra (melted) to brush |
| 80 | g | breadcrumbs |
| 3–4 | tablespoon(s) | sugar (to taste) |
| pinch(es) | ground cinnamon | |
| 75 | g | raisins, soaked in rum |
| juice from one lemon | ||
| 1 | tablespoon(s) | icing sugar, to serve |
Preparation:
- Cut the apples into 0.5cm slices and put in a large bowl with the lemon juice.
- Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and cook, stirring, until golden brown.
- Loosely mix the apples and butter crumbs with the remaining ingredients. I am very sparing with cinnamon (and I don't use cloves at all – otherwise the flavour of the apples is lost).
- Preheat the oven to 160°C. Generously flour a clean fine muslin cloth and roll out the rested strudel dough as thinly as you can.
- Sprinkle the strudel dough loosely with the filling. Using the cloth to help, roll up the strudel firmly.
- Place on a baking tray, brush with melted butter and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 1 hour. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
- Alternatively, you can bake the strudel in a buttered tin and baste the top with milk. This version makes the strudel even juicier, and also creates a beautiful milk caramel crust.
For the vanilla ice cream
| Ingredients (6 servings) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 250 | ml | whipping cream |
| 250 | ml | whole milk |
| 2 | vanilla pods | |
| 3 | egg yolks | |
| 100 | g | sugar |
| splash(es) | rum | |
| pumpkin seed oil, for drizzling | ||
Preparation:
- Pour the cream and milk into a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Cut the vanilla pods in half lengthwise and scrape out the pulp. Add the vanilla pulp and pods to the pan and bring to simmering point. Strain and set aside.
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale and frothy. Stir in the rum.
- Strain the warm vanilla cream mixture into the bowl with the egg/sugar mixture and mix well (remove the vanilla pods).
- Pour the mixture into a clean pan over a low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens to a custard, about 10 minutes. Do not overheat.
- Allow the custard mixture to cool, transfer to an ice cream maker and churn until frozen. Serve drizzled with pumpkin seed oil.
Tip:
Serve with cream!
The classic apple strudel is served with lashings of whipped cream. If you like, you can top with a sprinkle of vanilla sugar for a bigger vanilla hit.
