Vegan Apple Strudel with Marzipan Filling
I have no strong feelings for apple strudels. I can't remember any apple strudel in my childhood or even the last one I ate in my whole life. When I see someone eating an apple strudel, it's only in restaurants and not a homebaked one, fresh out of the oven. In my world, apple strudels don't play a big role. I would always prefer an apple pie, apple turnovers, or apple crumble.
But sometimes you have to jump over your own box and try things that you don't often do. So I sat down to write down a recipe for a vegan apple strudel. The first recipe I baked has become too dry and way too doughy. Damn it! But my second try was much better! The filling tasted fruity-sweet, and the strudel dough turned out perfect. In fact, it was very tasty! Who knows, maybe next time there will be strudel instead of cake.
Vegan Apple Strudel
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 175 g (1.5 cups) wheat flour (type 550)
- 80 ml (0.33 cups) cold water
- 15 g (1 tbsp) sunflower oil
- 0.5 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
For the filling:
- 40 g (2.75 tbsp) vegan butter
- 2 apples
- 2 pears
- 80 g (1 cup) breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 50 g (1.75 oz) raisins
- 3 tbsp rum
- 70 g (0.33 cups) sugar
- 0.75 tsp cinnamon
- 200 g (7 oz) raw marzipan
Also needed:
- 30 g (2 tbsp) vegan butter (melted)
- 30 g (0.25 cups) powdered sugar
- oil for brushing
For serving:
- 500 g (17.5 oz) vegan vanilla ice cream
Instructions
For the dough, knead flour, cold water, sunflower oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt for approx. 8 minutes into a smooth dough. Brush with a bit of oil and let rest covered at room temperature for at least 1 hour, ideally overnight in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, for the filling, melt vegan butter. Peel, halve, and core apples and pears, then cut into 1 centimeter (0.5 inches) cubes. Mix the cubes together with breadcrumbs, lemon juice, raisins, rum, and vegan butter in a large bowl. Mix sugar and cinnamon separately. Cut raw marzipan into small cubes and fold into the apple mixture.
Place a clean kitchen towel on the table or work surface and dust with flour. Preheat oven to 180 °C/355 °F (convection). Roll out the dough on the floured work surface as thin as possible with a rolling pin into a roundish rectangle, then pick it up with your hands and stretch it outward in a circular motion with your fists (fists are important, otherwise fingers can poke holes in the dough).
When the dough is stretched paper-thin into a large rectangle, carefully place it on the kitchen towel. You should be able to see the fabric through the dough layer – that's the perfect thickness. Brush the dough surface with a bit of oil, evenly distribute the cinnamon sugar mixture on the lower third of the dough in the center, then place the filling as an even thick log also on the lower third of the dough and press it together compactly.
