Quark Strudel

Yesterday for the very first time I prepared my own strudel pastry. Actually it is not difficult but it is strenuous if you do it by hand. Most of the doughs I make I do not use a machine because that is just not the same. I was happy with the result for the first time: only 2 holes, well huge ones but the strudel was very delicious.


Strudel is most often associated with the Austrian cuisine, but is also a traditional pastry in the whole area formerly belonging to the Austro-Hungarian empire.The oldest Strudel recipe is from 1696, a handwritten recipe at the Viennese City Library, Wiener Stadtbibliothek. The pastry probably has its origins in the similar Middle Eastern pastries. In Hungary we call it rétes. The traditional Strudel pastry dough is very elastic. It is made from flour with a high gluten content, egg, water and butter with no sugar added. The dough is worked vigorously, rested and than rolled out and stretched by hand very thinly. Pertaining to anecdotes, purists say, it should be so thin that a newspaper can be read through it.


The thin dough is laid out on a tea towel and the filling is spread on it. The dough with the filling on top is rolled up carefully with the help of the towel and baked in the oven. (source:wikipedia)


Ingredients:
250 g flour ( I used special flour for Strudel that I got from Hungary)
1 teaspoon lard
3-4 dl salty, lukewarm water with a 1/4 teaspoon vinegar
2 tablespoon oil


Crumble flour with lard and make a hole in the middle, where you pour water, but not all at once. Knead a dough, it should be smooth and elastic. Now start kneading and keep on doing it for 20 minutes, after set it aside for 15-20 minutes under a warm pot and sprinkle it with oil. Cover table with a cotton cloth and with a flour. Strech the dough and using your knuckles stretch it from the center to the sides.


Spread the filling, in my case I mixed 250 g quark with 2 tablespoons sour cream, 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar, lot of lemon peel and 1 egg yolk. Roll up pastry with the help of the table cloth. Smear an egg yolk mixed with sour cream on top of the rolled strudel and bake for 30 minutes on 180°C.