Apple Strudel

Today's the day .......................... for an icon

If you were cooking in the UK in the late 60s and 70s - then the recipes of Katie Stewart  would have, more likely than not, featured in your repertoire.

She was mentor to a whole generation (which included me) and her columns in The Times were the bedrock of many families' excursions into fancy cooking. Yet so reliable were her recipes, and so lacking pretension, that they have continued to attract devotees to this day. Battered copies of her Times Cookery Book  published in 1972, and refashioned several times, are testament to that.  That was what I was using today when I decided to make her 'Apple Strudel' - the first time in many, many years.

It was just as easy as it always was to follow her recipe and produce the above.  It brought back lots of memories too!  And, just in case you fancy having a go, the recipe is below .......................

Katie Stewart's Apple Strudel 
Ingredients
4 oz plain flour
Pinch salt
1 small egg
2 tbls warm water
2 tsps oil
1½ oz melted butter

For the Filling
1lb cooking apples
2 oz walnuts
2 oz sultanas
2-3 oz soft brown sugar
 ½ level tsp mixed spice

Method
Sift flour and salt into a mixing basin and make a well in the centre.  Mix together the egg, water and oil and pour into the centre of the flour.  Mix to a soft dough, then turn out on to a clean working surface.  Knead as you would with bread dough until it is smooth and elastic.  Place it in a small basin, cover with a cloth and leave to rest for 30 mins while preparing the filling.
Peel, core and slice the apples and coarsely chop the walnuts.  Mix with the sultanas, sugar and mixed spice.
Roll out the strudel dough into an oblong shape and lift on to a clean tea towel.  Using the floured backs of the hands and knuckles, and working on the underside, pull and stretch the pastry gently in all directions.  Keep the pastry spread out during working; if it is allowed to fall in folds, the surface will stick together.  The odd hole will not matter but try to avoid making too many.  When the pastry is ready, it should be almost the size of the tea towel and thin enough to see the pattern through.  Brush generously with the melted butter and scatter the filling over the surface making a fairly generous layer of filling on the edge nearest to you. 
Pick up the two nearest corners of the cloth and roll the strudel away from you.  When rolled up, flatten the two ends and trim away the edges.  Roll over on to a greased baking tray and curl into a horseshoe shape.  Brush all over with melted butter.  Place in the centre of a hot over (400F, 200C or Gas No 6) and bake for the first 20 mins.  Reduce the heat to 375F, 190C or Gas No 5 and bake for a further 10-15 mins until the sides feel crisp.  Dust lavishly with icing sugar.  Run a palette knife under the strudel and lift on to a serving dish.
Serve hot, cut in slices with single cream or cold with whipped double cream.