Cherry Strudel with Almonds and Raisins: Austrian Style

Bake time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Dough rest: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

Pastry:

170 g (1 cups + 1 Tbsp) all-purpose flour or bread flour
1/2 (23 g) egg
25 g (1 Tbsp + 2 tsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
90 mL (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp) cold water
2 pinches of salt

Filling:

600 g (21 oz) pitted cherries
40 g (3 Tbsp) white sugar
1/2 tsp (2-3 g) ground cinnamon
45 g (3 Tbsp + 1 tsp) unsalted butter
80 g (1 cup) almonds
90 g (1 cup) black and white raisins

Glazing:

40 g (3 Tbsp) melted butter, for glazing
1-2 Tbsp icing sugar, for serving

Directions:

1. The pastry. In a medium bowl, sift flour, place 1/2 egg, soft unsalted butter, salt, and cold ice water. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it becomes elastic and smooth. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and leave it at room temperature for about 1 hour.
2. The filling. Pour the almonds into the blender bowl and grind a little. You can also use a knife to grind almonds. In medium saucepan, put all washed raisins, pitted unfrozen cherries, sugar, cinnamon, almonds and cook about 7-10 minutes. Drain the cherry filling and set aside to cool.
3. Cover a work surface with a clean tablecloth. Place the relaxed dough in the center of the cloth. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to make a small rectangle. Using the top part of the hands to pull and stretch strudel dough into a thin membrane approximately 1 m x 60 cm. Let the dough relax and dry on the table for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with cherry filling and then roll up the pastry into a sausage shape (you can use the cloth to help lift the dough). Gently put the strudel on the baking paper, brush with melted butter and with egg wash after (1/2 egg).
4. Bake at 190°C (375°F) about 35 minutes, brushing several times with melted butter. Let the strudel cool slightly, trim away the dry ends (edges) and serve with vanilla ice-cream or whipped heavy cream.