Apple And Blueberry Strudel

30 September 2021

One comment.

Apple and blueberry strudel is a take on the classic and is without a dought one of my favourites. Layers of crisp pastry filled with a spiced apple and blueberry fruit filling.

A delicious autumn dessert that everyone will love and it’s vegan too! Heavenly served with vanilla ice cream or custard on the side.

The strudel dough is traditionally vegan. It’s made with just the four simple ingredients – flour, oil, water and a little vinegar or lemon juice to make the dough more stretchy and elastic.

Traditionally strudel dough is stretched paper-thin on the back of the hands until you can read a note written on a piece of paper through it. Making the dough from scratch might sound intimidating to some but it’s actually easier than it may seem!

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂

RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

EASE: easy to intermediate, the pastry can be fiddly to handle.
FREE FROM: dairy-free and vegan.
GREAT FOR: breakfast, afternoon treat or any occasion.
TASTE: a crisp flaky pastry and sweet, tart spiced cinnamon filling.
TEXTURE: crisp pastry, juicy soft apple filling and studded with pecan nuts.

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INGREDIENTS

For this apple and blueberry strudel recipe all you need are these ingredients:

Apple vinegar
Strong bread flour
Bread crumbs
Apples
Lemon juice
Fresh blueberries
Pecans
Soft brown sugar
Ground cinnamon
Neutral-tasting oil (coconut, vegetable or sunflower oil)
Icing sugar (vegan)

TIP: I highly recommend adding salt to your doughs and pastry. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bring out the best characteristics of any recipe. I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt.

WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

There are many different options to fill a strudel. Traditionally, apples are the centrepiece, but pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, rice pudding, whey, poppy seeds and shredded cooked cabbage are all possibilities.

I also enjoy making this strudel with other dried fruits, such as figs, mango or cranberries for example.

Breadcrumbs are generally used, as they soak up the juices from the fruit as they bake, but these can be left out, especially when filling the pastry with rice or whey.

I really like the texture that nuts add to this recipe and I have used walnuts and hazelnuts before which are also really tasty.

If you experiment, Please leave a comment at the bottom of the post – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing how you got on and I regularly update these posts and the feedback I receive helps to make the recipes even more useful.

NUTRITION

Serving: one apple and blueberry strudel slice

Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.

I strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy.

I encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

STORAGE AND FREEZING

The strudel dough can be made a couple of days in advance, in fact, I recommend making it the day before so that the dough can rest in the fridge overnight, allowing the gluten to develop slowly.

This apple and blueberry strudel is best eaten on the day and even better while it is still warm from the oven.

Freezing: This recipe does not freeze well and is therefore not recommended.

EQUIPMENT SUGGESTIONS

Recommendations include:

Earthenware Mixing Bowl Mason Cash, Cream 29 cm Chip Resistant.

I like the sturdiness of this bowl and its 4 litre capacity means I can use it for mixing just about everything in the kitchen. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe.

Mixing Bowls Set of 5, Stainless Steel Nesting Bowls with Airtight Lids, 3 Grater Attachments, Size 5, 3, 2, 1.5, 0.63 QT

These different size mixing bowls are really useful depending on the amount of food you are preparing. They also have airtight lids that fit snugly to seal and keep food fresh, great for using as dry storage bowls with lids. The plastic lid of the largest bowl has a removable centre, where one of 3 graters can be used for grating cheese or vegetables.

3 Plastic Mixing Bowls, Non-Slip Base, Soft Grip Handle, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe, Compact, Stackable, Ideal for baking and cooking, off-white, 1.5 Litre, 2 Litre, 2.5 Litre.

I do own a plastic mixing bowl but I am personally not a big fan of them. These 3 bowls are on the smaller size but good for the odd cake making.

OXO Good Grips Swivel Peeler

I have had one of these peelers for years and like it very much.

Rolling Pin with Removable Silicone Thickness Guide Rings, Beech Wood (40 x 3.9 cm)

I love this rolling pin, its variable guide rings make rolling out biscuit doughs, pizzas, or flat breads so much easier!

Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.

© THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.

RECIPE TIPS

You can use any kind of apple, but a tart apple works best. Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, British cooking apples, or a combination of these would work great.

Make sure you use a flour with a high gluten content. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour and therefore more gluten.

When making the pastry, remove all your jewellery – rings and bracelets can get caught in the dough. If you do end up making a hole, simply pinch the pastry back together.

Apple & Blueberry Strudel

Preparation:25

Baking:30

Resting:1

Total:1 55

Servings: 10 slices

Vegan apple and blueberry strudel is a take on the classic, layers of crisp pastry filled with a spiced apple and blueberry fruit filling.

Print Pin

INGREDIENTS LIST

Strudel dough

80 ml filtered water
1 tbsp neutral-tasting oil (coconut, vegetable or sunflower oil)
1/2 tsp apple vinegar or lemon juice
1 pinch fine sea salt
150 g white bread flour

Filling

60 g breadcrumbs or panko
350 g apples, peeled and cored (5-6 pieces)
1 tbsp lemon juice
100 g fresh or frozen blueberries
50 g pecans (chopped )
50 g light brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tbsp neutral-tasting oil (coconut, vegetable or sunflower oil)

Decoration

1 1/2 tbsp icing sugar (US powdered sugar)

Preparation

Strudel dough: In a medium bowl, add the water, oil, vinegar and salt. Then add about half of the flour and mix for about a minute to allow the gluten in the flour to develop.
Once well combined add the remaining flour and then knead the dough in the bowl or on your work surface until nice and smooth. (approx 5 minutes) This is important to help the gluten develop further and for it to be elastic enough for stretching.
The dough should be moist but not sticky. If it is too sticky add just a little more flour. If the dough becomes too dry it will crack and split when shaping.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a clean bowl. Coat the dough in a little oil to stop it from drying out and cover the bowl with a lid or clingfilm.
Leave the dough covered for 30-60 minutes at room temperature or alternatively, place it in the fridge overnight and then, the following day, remove and leave it to come to room temperature (approx 20-30 minutes).
Breadcrumbs: Toast the bread crumbs in a frying pan on low heat, stirring continuously to stop them from browning.
Once the bread crumbs are a nice golden colour, transfer them to a bowl and leave to cool.
Apple filling: Cut the apples into 2cm pieces and place them in a large bowl. Coat the apple in a little lemon juice to stop them from browning.
Add the blueberries, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Rolling and stretching the dough: Flour a work surface and roll the dough out into a rectangle. Approximately, 30x40cm (12×16 inches).
Then lay a clean tea towel onto the table, dust with a little flour and place the dough on top of it.
Using the back of your hand and knuckle, place it under the dough and between the cloth and stretch the dough from the center out. Sometimes it helps to put your other hand in the center of the dough to stop it from moving around.
Gently stretch the dough from the inside to the outside, working your way around all the edges.
Every now and again, you may need to pull the edges of the dough out gently to keep the rectangular shape.
Stretch it until it starts to look paper-thin and translucent. You should be able to read a note written on a piece of paper through the dough.
Once it is ready, brush one half of the dough with oil.
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5.
Filling the strudel: Cover the half of the strudel that has not been oiled, with the breadcrumbs, leaving a 2cm (1inch) gap at the edge.
Scatter the apple mix over the top of the breadcrumbs evenly, but not wider than 30cm. Also, avoid adding any excess liquid that has collected in the bottom of the bowl. (We don't want a soggy bottom.)
Fold in the sides of the dough over the filling to prevent the filling from coming out at the edge while rolling.
Using a tea towel, roll the dough from the end of the filling.
Place a piece of baking paper or parchment at the end and gently roll the strudel onto it seam side down.
Transfer to a baking tray and brush with more oil.
Baking: Place the tray in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Once baked, remove from the oven and either serve with ice cream or leave to cool, then dust with icing sugar and serve.