It’s Strudel Season: Our Apple Strudel Recipe

Baking at this time of year feels extra special. There’s a sense of excitement and anticipation in the air that only happens around Christmas and baking at home is no exception.  

Whether it’s the waft of everything roasting in the oven on Christmas Day, the spiced scent of mulled wine gently bubbling on the stove or the sweet smell of festive treats baking in the oven, the scent of Christmas is a cacophony of rich, spicy and deeply nostalgic notes. 

With that in mind, we wanted to share one of favourite festive recipes for you to bake at home – apple strudel. Combining golden, flaky pastry with sticky mincemeat, sweet apples and a heady mix of dried fruits, spices and a small tipple of the king of apple brandy, this recipe is guaranteed to fill your home (and appetites) with all the sweet, icing-dusted joy of the season.  

Perfect for those small, unexpected moments between the main events of the festive period, enjoy with a mid-morning cup of tea or as an afternoon or after dinner treat with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a ladle of custard or both (it’s that time of year, after all…) 

Before you commence with the kneading, rolling and baking, here’s a very short history of the strudel to get you in the pastry making mood.  

A short history of the strudel 

Along with Wiene Schnitzel and Tafelspitz (a dish of boiled beef served with minced apples, root vegetables and horseradish), strudel is the national dish of Austria. Handwritten and carefully preserved in the library of Vienna’s town hall, the first recorded strudel recipe dates to 1697. Reminiscent of Turkish baklava, the rich fruit filling is spread between layers of paper thin pastry, rolled up on itself and baked until golden and crispy. Popular throughout the 18th century across the Austro-Hungarian empire, the strudel is thought to get its name from its distinctive, fruit filled swirl. In Middle High German, the word ‘strudel’ means ‘whirlpool’ and once cut into, the pastry and filling do indeed make a swirled, whirlpool like pattern.  

Mincemeat merriment  

Dusted with icing sugar and enjoyed in Viennese cafes for centuries, strudel combines all the flavours, tastes and textures of Christmas in one delicious slice. 

And for us, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas and strudel wouldn’t be strudel without the addition of deliciously sticky mincemeat.  

Made by our friends at Tea Together, our Mincemeat recipe is a true homage to this Christmas classic. Having chosen the finest ingredients we could find, a healthy glug of Calvados, sweet Jonagold apples and a mix of rich vine fruits, cranberries and candied citrus peel make up our moreish mincemeat. The result is a rich, sticky and deeply decadent mincemeat that has all the textures, fruit and depth you'd expect from GAIL's. 

We can’t think of a better way to add some Christmas cheer and comforting aromas to your home this festive season than by baking your very own strudel with a generous helping of our Mincemeat. 

Strudel Recipe 

For the pastry 

160ml warm water 

1 tsp white wine vinegar 

½ tsp salt 

30g neutral tasting oil 

290g strong white bread flour 

Or you can use pre made puff or filo pastry

For the filling 

A jar of GAIL’s mincemeat

150g butter, cubed 

100g breadcrumbs 

4-6 Russet apples, peeled, cored and diced 

1 small Bramley apple 

75g demerara sugar 

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Pinch of salt 

Pastry Method 

1. In a heatproof bowl, combine the water, salt, vinegar and oil until the salt has dissolved. 
2. Slowly add the flour and work with your hands until you get a smooth dough. 
3. Work the dough in bowl until you get a slightly tacky but cohesive dough 
4. Turn out and knead on floured work top for 10-15 minutes until your dough passes the ‘windowpane test’ (in which you see light through it when stretched). 
5. Lightly oil a bowl, place your dough inside and cover. Leave to rest for 2 hours. The dough can also be made the day before and left in fridge.  
6. Next, make your filling. 

Filling Method 

1. Melt 50g of butter into a saucepan and toast your breadcrumbs until golden. Remove and set to one side. 
2. Having peeled, cored and diced your apples, add them to a mixing bowl with the mincemeat, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Use your hands to mix together well. Once your dough has had time to rest, you can assemble your strudel. 

Assembling Your Strudel 

1. Preheat your oven to 190C.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape roughly the thickness of a pound coin. If your dough is retracting and not spreading out, leave it to rest for a minute or two and continue to roll.  
3. Once flattened, roll up your dough onto a rolling pin and transfer to a clean tea towel that has been lightly dusted with flour. 
4. Using your knuckles underneath the dough, gently pull and stretch until paper thin – you should be able to clearly read a newspaper headline through the dough. 
5. Place the dough, towel side down, onto a flat surface and spread the breadcrumbs across 1/3 of the narrower part of the dough. 
6. Top with your filling, smoothing and flattening to ensure an even spread. 
7. Melt the remaining butter and, using a pastry brush, the remaining 2/3 of the exposed dough with butter 
8. Using the edge of the tea towel, fold over the filling end of the strudel onto itself and then carefully start to roll, pulling the cloth upwards so that the entire pastry sheet forms the strudel. 
9. Place on a greaseproof paper lined baking sheet and generously brush the strudel all over with the remaining melted butter. 
10. Place in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes until the pastry is a deep golden colour. 
11. Allow to cool then dust with icing sugar and serve with vanilla ice cream, custard or both. Tis’ the season…