Helmut and I came across this cookbook at our local Costco: Houston Classic Desserts. I immediately flipped through it to see if the Brenner's Restaurant Apple Strudel recipe was included. Sure enough, there it was. However, the recipe was very different from the recipe used back in the days when the restaurant was still owned by the family. Perhaps when Landry's took over, they simplified the process. But using puffed pastry seems like cheating and can't taste any where near as good as the homemade dough.
Luckily, I can get the real Brenner studel at home. Helmut is the best strudel maker in the family. He learned to make strudel from his Dad. His Dad learned from his mother and she learned from her mother-in-law (we think).
Making strudel is so involved that Helmut usually saves it just for special occassions. I convinced him to make it for us this Christmas Eve, even though our numbers were small (this worked out really well because that meant there was more strudel for me...thus the New Year's diet).
The filling is pretty simple and basic: apples, sugar, cinnamon, pecans, butter. Pecans add a Texas twist to this classic German dessert.
The dough is what stumps most people. The ingredients are common: flour, oil and water. But the technique is what takes patience and practice. The dough must be "pulled" from a small ball until it is a thin circle the size of a hula hoop. Helmut says when you can read a newspaper through it, you know it is thin enough. Pulling it this thin without holes forming all over is very difficult...believe me, I've tried.
Here is the recipe if you are brave enough to try it yourself:
Brenner Apple Strudel
Dough:
2 cups flour
2 ounces vegetable oil (about 1/4 cup)
Water (added until the dough is wet but not sticky)
Dash of salt
Mix. Let dough rest in an oiled glass bowl covered with a tea towel for one hour. Divide in half.
Filling:
5 apples, peeled and sliced (Granny Smith or Braeburn, a good tart crisp baking apple is best)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 lemon (squeeze over peeled apples to keep them from browning)
3/4 cup butter, sliced into thin pats
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Plain bread crumbs
Powdered sugar
Pull one half of the dough until paper thin, patching any holes. Pinch the thick edge off the dough. Mix apples, pecans, butter, sugar and cinnamon and place about 8 inches from the edge of the dough. Sprinkle a light layer of bread crumbs on the dough around the filling. Carefully roll into a loaf. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Cook both loaves at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Cool loaves thoroughly and sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
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