Apfelstrudel (Apple strudel) is a traditional Austrian dish, the best known kind of strudel; others include Kirschstrudel (cherry strudel) and there are also savoury strudels incorporating spinach, sauerkraut and so on.

Apple strudel consists of an oblong pastry jacket with a filling of chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, raisins and bread crumbs. Rum is also often used to add flavour. The art of preparation is in folding the buttered pastry and repeatedly rolling it, until the individual layers are extremely thin—it is said that a single layer should be so thin you could read a newspaper through it.

The filled Apfelstrudel is baked in an oven and can be served warm, usually sprinkled with icing sugar. It can also be served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, though this is not the traditional way to serve it.

To bake a juicy Apfelstrudel, Elstar apples are recommended. Apples chosen should be good cooking apples, sour, crisp and aromatic.

See also

• Apple pie