Makes 2 strudels—This is the easy version!
About
This recipe is recalled from fond childhood memories of living in Austria when I very young. The strudel is not too sweet. It’s lovely with coffee or tea. The combination of the crisp buttered crust with walnuts and bread crumbs between the thin layers of dough paired with an apple filling evokes memories of this delicate European pastry. My mother learned to make strudel while we lived in Austria, from our landlords who became lifelong family friends. I was three years old. By the time I was four, we had moved to Italy and I had 2 new brothers, twins! I can still picture my mother clearing the entire wooden table, flouring a clean tablecloth and then with buttered hands slowly stretching the dough until it hung over the sides of the table. She used her fingertips and the palms of her hands to gently transform the dough. I was not allowed to help! I was amazed! I had never seen such large piece of translucent dough. With great patience my mother worked. “Was it ready?” I would ask. “No not yet.” She would tell me. She would instruct me to watch her hands work the dough until we could clearly see the pattern of the tablecloth underneath and the dough hung over the sides of the table. Like magic, she would roll up the very long dough, now filled with apples, by lifting the floured tablecloth. I was always in awe.
“Lee brought the gray enameled coffeepot to the table and filled the cups and sat down. He warmed the palm of his hand against the rounded side of his cup.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck