From Nigel's Kitchen Table
Apple And Blueberry Strudel
A vegan strudel with crisp pastry wrapped around a warmly spiced apple and blueberry filling.
Navigate the recipe
On this page
The recipe, step by step
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!
RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS
- EASE: easy to intermediate, the pastry can be fiddly to handle.
- FREE FROM: dairy-free and vegan.
- TASTE: a crisp flaky pastry and sweet, tart spiced cinnamon filling.
- TEXTURE: crisp pastry, juicy soft apple filling and studded with pecan nuts.
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)
- Salt – I highly recommend adding salt to your doughs and pastry. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bringing out the best characteristics of any recipe. I recommend using sea salt, 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.
NUTRITION
Serving: one apple and blueberry strudel slice
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:
- Large mixing bowl – I recommend the 29 cm Mason Cash cream earthenware mixing bowl because it is sturdy, chip-resistant and has a generous four-litre capacity, making it ideal for everything from cake batters to bread doughs. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe. You can find this bowl and more of my favourite kitchen tools in my Amazon Baking Essentials collection.
I have had one of these peelers for years and like it very much.
- Rolling pin – I love this rolling pin! The removable guide rings make it much easier to roll biscuit dough, pizza dough and flatbreads to an even thickness, giving you consistent results every time.
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 – Revision
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.
FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS
Made this recipe?
I would love to hear how it turned out. Leave a comment and add a star rating to help other home cooks discover the recipe.
Keep cooking
You may also like
Recipe
Chocolate Chia Pudding
A creamy vegan chocolate chia pudding topped with rich hazelnut fudge sauce for a simple, satisfying dessert or breakfast.
View recipe
Recipe
Coffee & Walnut Loaf Cake
A moist coffee and walnut loaf cake finished with a smooth espresso and vanilla glaze.
View recipe
Recipe
Lemon Drizzle Cake
A moist buttery sponge soaked with bright lemon syrup and finished with a sweet citrus glaze.
View recipeAround the table
Questions and kitchen notes
Made this recipe? Leave a rating and tell me how it turned out. Your questions and tips may also help the next person making it.
Perfect piece of work you have done, this site is really cool with
great info.