Classic "ApfelStrudel" or AppleStrudel!

So after a long long time on break, I am finally starting to cook again. We currently have some guest in our spare room that we have been renting out on AirBnb  and they have some European Heritage, I thought I take this opportunity to make a classic ApfelStrudel! We ate Apfelstrudel as kids all the time as my grandma and my aunt were experts in getting the dough really really thin and we just loved it as dessert or main course.

Here is what you need for the dough:
200 g fine flour
125 ml water
1tablespoon oil
sprinkle of salt
flour for dusting
butter, melted to brush on
oil to brush on

I always prepare the dough first and then work on the rest of the ingredients, but that is entirely up to you.

For the filling:
1kg apples, peeled, quartered and sliced in 3 mm pieces
150 g breadcrumbs
150 g sugar
80 g butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla-sugar
2 tablespoons rum (I used Amaretto  this time)
80 g raisins, I don't like them so I left them out

Ok lets start:

On a clean surface, make a mound with your water and create a little indentation, add the oil and the salt and start combining these ingredients with a fork, little by little add the water until everything is combined and you have a smooth dough. Dust your hands with flour and kneed the dough until smooth and no longer sticky. Transfer the dough on a plate, brush with oil and let rest for at least 30 minutes (or as long as it takes you to prepare the remainder of the ingredients.



Now the filling:

In a big bowl, mix the sliced apples with the sugar, cinnamon and the rum, add the raisins if you are using them and set aside for a while. In a small pan, melt the butter and roast your breadcrumbs until they are golden brown, set aside to cool.

Preparing the dough for filling:

Take a large kitchen towel and dust with flour, place the doug in the middle and roll into a square with a rolling pin (dust the rolling pin with flour so the dough doesn't stick to it), roll out as thin as possible, then brush with melted butter and let it rest for 5 minutes, once you are done you can pull the dough thinner by moving your hands underneath the dough with the backs of your hands up and pulling slowly away from the center without getting any wholes in it.

Once the dough is thin enough, sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, then add the apple mixture and roll up tightly using the kitchen towel. Tuck under the ends and transfer carefully onto a buttered baking sheet. Be careful to not make any holes.

Brush generously with melted butter and bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 40 minutes. It should be golden brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar!

Serve hot or cold on its own or with vanilla sauce or icecream!

Bon Apetite!


As a variation, you can use ground almonds or hazelnuts and my aunt used to add a couple of dollops of sour cream!

Oatmeal Cake with Apples n Honey

Hello my fellow bakers,  I know it's been a while, but we're busy at work and then we are looking for a home to buy, so baking has taken a little bit of a back seat lately. But I figured something out that is super easy to make and tastes delicious.

This cake is super easy to make and doesn't even require you to take out a mixer. All you need is a measuring cup, a bowl and the most basic of ingredients...

1 cup rolled oats or instant oats (I used BetterOats, Instant Oatmeal in Cinnamon Spice)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk (I use fat free)
butter (or pam for spraying the pan)

Then you add in what you like, depending on taste:

I added:

1 medium size apple diced
2 tablespoons of Honeyville Apple Cinnamon Whipped Honey (dissolved in the milk).




I tasted Honeyville Honey the first time almost a year ago, while on vacation in Durango, CO. We drove by the store and I just stopped by to check it out, even though I usually don't like honey. Honeyville totally changed that! I bought multiple jars of their "Whipped" honey and I was hooked. I didn't have luggage to check on my flight out to California and stuffed the jars in my carry on, forgetting I couldn't take them in the cabin. But I wouldn't be parted with this little jars of liquid gold so I checked my bag and kept my honey. THANK GOD! Unfortunately you won't be able to find this delicious treats in your grocery store, but you can order Honeyville Honeys on their website at www.HoneyvilleColorado.com or by clicking directly on the logo.

OK, after the little detour and my story about how one taste of Honeyville deliciousness changed my opinion about honey, lets get to making the batter:

Mix the oatmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and if you use unflavored oats add in two tablespoons of cinnamon. Once you mixed that well add in the egg and the milk, stir well so everything is well combined. Add the diced or grated apples and bake in a pre-heated 375F oven for about 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer/toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy! The cake tastes even better if you wrap it in foil and let it sit in the fridge for 2 days as the aroma gets better!


And the result is this:

Variations: Leave out the apple, add in apricots, cocoa powder chocolate chips, sliced almonds, any kind of nuts. The options are endless!

Gluten Free Apple Almond Cake

Here is a great cake for apple and almond lovers, perfect to use all the fresh apples we have now and most of all, it's Gluten Free and very easy to make.

This is what you will need:

• 50 g / 1.75 oz Butter
• 175 g / 6.1 oz Sugar, fine
• 2 medium Eggs
• 250 g / 8.75 oz Almonds, ground
• 250 g / 8.75 oz Applesauce
• 1 medium Orange, finely grated zest
• 100 g / 3.5 oz  Rice or Quinoa Flour 
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 4 medium Apples
• 2 tsp Sugar

Preheat your oven to 325 F / 180 C and prepare a 10 inch / 22 cm spring form pan.

Get all your ingredients together and lets get started. Cream the soft butter, mix in the sugar and the eggs until light and creamy, then add the ground almonds the apple sauce and the orange zest. Sift the rice flour and the baking powder together and fold into the mixture with a spatula.

Peel the apples, cut them in half and remove the core, cut them in fine slice, but keep together. Then pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan and layer the cut apples onto the batter, so they make a nice pattern. Sprinkle with a little bit of sugar.

Bake the cake on the middle rack of the preheated oven for about 60 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean. Once the cake comes out of the oven, brush the apples with some warm apricot jelly, that will keep the cake looking shiny and it tastes great.

Tip: This cake can be made with pears as well and you could use hazelnuts instead of almonds. I have used the below flours and they worked great.