Daring Bakers: Apple Strudel

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Linda and Courtney will have the recipe posted - and you should know that with as much as my kids love apples and raisins, I followed the recipe almost exactly.  I used dark raisins (I just got 5lb of organic raisins from the co-op I'm in, I wasn't about to buy more) and I soaked them in bourbon (have it in the cabinet for when I make Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce - which pretty much rocks my world, by the way).  Other than that - I followed the recipe exactly.

Oh. My. Gracious. Ho.Ly. Moly. I was so excited about the challenge this month - even though I'm late posting (sorry!!!).  I've wanted to try strudel.  I mean, I am married to a guy of German descent, afterall.  I need something "German" in my repertoire, right? Ummm, this ain't it.  ;)   

Actually it wasn't that bad - until I went to the final stretching of the dough.  I'd gotten it almost paper thin with the rolling pin - yay.  Perhaps that was my problem.  Perhaps I should've stopped with the rolling pin sooner.  I had floured the heck out of my flour-sack towel - but there was one spot that I must have missed.  A spot about the size of a small cookie - HUGE hole in the middle of my dough.  Huge.  {mutter and try really hard to not cuss, but I wanted to}

Roll out another batch of dough and it won't get as thin as the other did.  I think I was scared.  And as a result, I overfilled the dough.  Brad started snacking before it was cooled and said it tasted good.  I said, "Well, it's so bloomin' ugly, it should taste good!" 

I'll definitely try again!  I enjoyed working with the dough even with the issues. 

Dinner for Friends

Some friends of ours at church had their first baby (a girl) last Monday so tonight Allison and I are providing dinner for them.  Allison is making barbeque (don't know what recipe she's using) and veggies.  I'm doing buns and dessert.

For dessert I'm making Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes and topping with vanilla buttercream that I have left from decorating Nin's birthday cake.

For the buns, I'm making Homemade Hamburger Buns (Bread Machine) from Recipezaar.  Yes, I'm using the dough setting on my bread machine -- too much to do today,  I need some help and it's perfect for that.  I topped the buns with sesame seeds after I brushed them with melted butter.

SERVES 12

• 1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 3/4 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. Place all ingredients in pan of bread machine according to manufacturer's directions.
2. Select dough setting.
3. When cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface.
4. Cut dough in half and roll each half out to a 1" thick circle.
5. Cut each half into six 3 1/2" rounds with inverted glass as a cutter.
6. Place on greased baking sheet far apart and brush with melted butter.
7. Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour.
8. Bake at 350° for 9 minutes.
9. Note: Oven temperatures vary so check after 9 minutes to see if done. Some reviewers baked these anywhere from 12 to 30 minutes.

Cupcakes are cooling now.  Buns are rising and will be going into the oven in about 30 to 45 minutes.  I'll take a photo of the buns when they come out of the oven.