Phyllo dough cheese strudel after baking.
With the holiday season upon us, my earliest childhood memories of this time includes my Grandmother serving her apple and cheese strudel. I remember watching her hand stretch the strudel dough with the back side of her hands (she had rheumatoid arthritis and this technique was easier for her) until it was paper thin. Stretching was complete when the dough hung off the sides of our large dining room table. It's time consuming and tricky to accomplish this without poking holes in the dough. So, I am offering an alternative no self-respecting Slovenian would consider...or so I thought. Prepared phyllo pastry dough! In Heike Milhench's cookbook Flavors of Slovenia she offers a recipe for both the apple and cheese strudel using phyllo pastry dough. I won't be posting her recipes since that would be rude and more importantly illegal but I highly recommend purchasing the cookbook as a gift for your favorite Slovenian foodie. The author nicely blends history, photos and recipes in this entertaining collection of Central Europe cookery. And so, I decided to blend my Grandma's filing recipe (because it's the best) with the author's idea to use phyllo dough and the result didn't disappoint. Below are both the original recipes for both strudels as well as the directions for the phyllo dough strudel.
Grandma Hiller's Cheese and Apple Strudel
Dough Recipe:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
1 beaten egg
1 cup warm water
melted butter
Put flour in bowl and make a well. Mix water, salt, oil and egg together then add to flour. Knead until smooth and silky about 15 minutes. Oil dough and place in a bowl. Cover and rest 1 hour in a warm place. Place dough in center of floured table cloth. Using a rolling pin, roll until 30 x 40 inches. Brush melted butter over dough. Place hands under the dough and begin pulling from middle outward until the dough is stretched out over the table (or until approximately 3' x 5') edges. Work slow to avoid tears as it is hard to repair them once the dough gets paper thin. Trim off thick edges of dough. Brush with melted butter. Now you are ready to add the filling, choose your favorite below.
Cheese Filling Recipe:
2 lbs small curd cottage cheese, strain if necessary. I use Michigan Brand because it's
thick and doesn't need to be strained.
2 eggs beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together.
Spread the cheese mixture on half of the dough, lengthwise. Start rolling lengthwise on the filling side by lifting the tablecloth slowly to aid in rolling. This job is best accomplished with helpers for an even roll! Place the long roll of strudel in a greased jellyroll pan by laying it up and down the length of the pan. Brush with butter. Bake 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Cool in pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Apple Filling Recipe:
11 small or 6 large apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup buttered bread crumbs. Do this by adding a small amount of melted butter to the crumbs and combine.
1 cup sugar
Cinnamon
Sprinkle the bread crumbs on the dough. Spread apples evenly over half the dough. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon over entire area. Roll using same technique as in cheese filling as well as laying in the greased jellyroll pan. Brush with butter. Bake 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Cool in pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Cheese Strudel Recipe Using Phyllo Dough
1 package phyllo dough. One package will make about 6 small loaves.
Cheese Filling as above however cut ingredients in half, so 1 lb of cottage cheese, 1 egg beaten,
1. Brushing the phyllo with melted butter.
1 tablespoon of flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Melted butter and pastry brush.
(I used 5 sheets of phyllo dough for each loaf but 4 will work just fine too.)
Take 1 sheet of phyllo dough, lay flat and brush with melted butter. Top with second sheet and repeat process until you have 4 or 5 sheets.
2. Add the cheese mixture like this.
Add some of the cheese mixture, approximately 1/3 cup, as show in the photo. Fold in both the side about a half inch and the end closest to the filling as well as seen in photo 3. Begin rolling at the cheese end and place strudel in greased jellyroll pan. Repeat the process until you have used all the cheese mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.
Dober Tek!
3. Folding in the sides.
4. Rolling the strudel.