Ep 36: Gary's Apple strudel with cream and

custard

Strudel pastry
225g plain flour, plus extra for kneading
1 whole egg
125ml warm milk
teaspoon salt
30g butter, melted
Apple filling
5 pink lady apples
60ml brandy
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
cup raisins
cup flaked almonds
Zest of 1 lemon
cup (165g) brown sugar
125g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs
60g butter, melted for brushing
Icing sugar, for dusting
Double cream, to serve

1 Preheat oven to 180C fan forced.

2 For pastry, place flour, egg, milk and salt in
the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a
dough paddle and beat at a low speed to
combine. Add butter, increase speed and beat
to a smooth dough. Turn onto a lightly floured
bench and knead until smooth, elastic and
doesn't stick. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and
allow to rest for 35-40 minutes.
4 For filling, peel, core and quarter apples.
Roughly cut into medium chunks. Place in a
bowl with brandy, cinnamon, raisins, almonds
and lemon zest and toss to combine.
5 Reserve 1/3 of each brown sugar and
breadcrumbs and set to one side. Add the
remaining brown sugar and breadcrumbs to
the apple mixture, toss to combine and allow
to sit, covered, for flavours to infuse.
6 Sprinkle bench with flour, roll out dough to a
rectangle approximately 40x60cm and very
thin. Take a 60cmx80cm piece of cloth or
clean tea towel and sprinkle with plain flour.
Use a rolling pin to help you transfer the pastry
onto the cloth and gently pull pastry by the
edges until it is transparent. Ensure thick
areas are worked to a similar transparency

and dough isn't sticking to the cloth. Trim

edges.
7 Sprinkle pastry with reserved breadcrumbs
and sugar, then spoon apple mix down the
length of the pastry in a rectangular shape 34inches wide and piled up high. Sprinkle apple
and pastry with reserved breadcrumbs and
brown sugar.
8 To roll, use the cloth to fold the ends of the
pastry over apples to encase, fold the sides of
the pastry over to seal and roll up loosely into
a thick, plump and elongated strudel shape.
9 Transfer to a baking paper-lined oven tray
and brush with melted butter. Bake for 40-45
minutes or until golden and pastry is crisp.
10 Allow to cool slightly before dusting heavily
with icing sugar.
Vanilla Custard
300ml pouring cream
200ml milk
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped
5 egg yolks
cup caster sugar
25g corn flour

11 Place cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds in

a saucepan over a medium heat and just bring
to the boil.
12 Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until
thick and pale. Whisk in corn flour, pour half of
the hot cream into egg mixture, whisking
continuously. Pour into remaining cream
mixture and return to a medium low heat. Stir
continuously with a wooden spoon until
mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl
placed over a bowl of iced water and stir
custard until cooled to room temperature. Pour
into a serving jug.
13 To serve, cut strudel into thick pieces and
serve with a drizzle of custard and a dollop of
thick cream.