How to Make Hungarian Strudel

Warm, sugar-dusted strudel is often associated with cafés of central Europe, but not every country's strudel is the same. While the German and Austrian varieties tend to be rather heavy and sweet, Hungarian strudel or "rétes" (pronounced "RAY-tesh") is much lighter and flavorful without being overly sugary.

If you're a pastry connoisseur, this is definitely a recipe to try from scratch.

The instructions here present the ingredients in the order you'll actually use them when you put the strudel together, but it's easiest to make the filling before you start the dough. That way you can fill the dough immediately after stretching it, so it won't have a chance to become dry and brittle.

The dough
The traditional method of making strudel dough is a fair amount of work. If you prefer, you can just skip this step and use a package of filo dough instead.

One of the keys to light, flaky Hungarian strudel dough is the flour. In Hungary, special flour is sold specifically for strudel, but of course this isn't available everywhere. As an alternative, look for flour that's finely ground and contain a high level of gluten. Bread and pastry flour work well. If you're in North America, try to get flour from Manitoba, as it tends to contain a lot of gluten.

The gluten really is essential. I've tried to adjust this recipe for someone with gluten intolerance, using rice and soy flour, and just ended up with a mess. That said, I've used ordinary all-purpose flour with acceptable results.

Ingredients
1/2 pound flour
1 1/4 oz butter or lard, melted
1 egg
4 cups lukewarm water
A few pinches of salt

Preparation
Pour the flour into a bowl and make a well in the center. Into the well, add the salt, egg, half the melted fat or butter, and water. Some say adding a 1 or 2 tablespoon of vinegar helps the dough stretch more easily, too. Use a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together until the mix becomes too thick to stir easily. At that point, use your hands to knead the dough until everything is evenly combined. Keep kneading the dough until it longer sticks to the side of the bowl.

The kneading stage is very important for making the dough elastic. You don't have to worry about the dough becoming tough, because it will be so thin. When you're done kneading, divide the dough into two parts, cover it with a cloth or bowl, and let rest for about 30 minutes.

Now comes the tricky part. You've got to stretch the dough out until it's thin as parchment paper, ideally without tearing any part of it. It's sometimes said you should be able to read a newspaper through the dough. Because the dough is so thin, it will dry out quickly. Keep the bowl with the remaining melted butter or fat and a soft basting brush close by because you'll need to regularly butter the dough as you stretch it.

The easiest place to stretch the dough is a long table covered with a cloth. I use a patterned bed sheet bought especially for this purpose. The pattern on the sheet helps show how thin the dough is in each area. Sprinkle the table covering with flour, place the dough on it, and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough as thinly as you can.

The rest of the stretching is best done by hand. Some advise using the backs of your hands to stretch the dough, but this has never worked for me, so I use my fingertips. Reach under the dough until you've got your hands more or less in the center and very gently draw the dough towards you. Work all the way around the dough doing this until the middle is as thin as you can make it. Then start working on the section around the middle and so on all the way to the edges. Keep in mind that you're aiming for a rectangle of dough. If you happen to tear the dough, resist the urge to patch the hole with more dough. That usually just makes the problem worse, especially if the tear is in a particularly thin area. When you stretched the dough as thinly as you think you can get it, trim off any thick edges.

Fillings
Nearly any fruit and even some vegetables like cabbage can be used as filling. Below are some recipes for the most common fillings.

To fill the dough, just place the filling along a strip near the edge of the dough. When you have, fold the shortest end over the dough and continue rolling until you've reached the other end. To roll the dough with minimal handling, move the dough by lifting the table covering and rolling the dough forward.

Cherry
Depending on your tastes, you can use either sweet or tart cherries or a combination. Apple filling uses the same amounts, but replace the cherries with peeled, thinly sliced apples and add 1/2 cup of raisins.

25 oz cherries, pitted and well drained
3 or 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 oz crumbled walnuts
1/2 to 3/4 of a cup powdered sugar

Along a strip near the edge of your dough, spread a layer of cherries. Add the breadcrumbs on top of that, followed by the walnuts. Finally, sprinkle on the powdered sugar.

Poppyseed
1/2 pound coarsely ground poppy seeds
1 cup milk
Sugar or honey to taste
Zest of one lemon
1 egg white

Put the poppy seeds in a saucepan and pour milk over them until they're covered. Cook them on low heat until the mixture thickens. Then add the sugar or honey and lemon zest. Beat the egg white and add as much as you need to make the filling spreadable.

Cottage cheese
14 oz cottage cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup raisins
The cottage cheese sold in Hungary is quite dry, so if you can only find the type with a lot of liquid, you'll need to drain it. Blend the two egg yolks into the cottage cheese, then add the sugar. If the cottage cheese is too watery, grits work well to thicken it. If you don't have grits, flour will work, too. Then beat the egg whites and add them to the mixture, followed by the raisins.

Baking
Place the strudel on a buttered baking sheet, place the baking sheet on a lower rack in the oven, and bake at low heat for 30-40 minutes. Check on the strudel every ten minutes or so to make sure it's not drying out. It if is, baste it with butter.

When the strudel is crisp and golden brown, take it out of the oven and carefully move it to a cooling rack. When it's cooled, sprinkle powered sugar over the top. Hungarian strudel can be served cold or warm, alone or with vanilla custard or ice cream.