I love the fact that every month, I have to stretch a little bit outside my comfort zone, get a little daring and bake up a storm!
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.
Well, given my gluten free-ness, that particular strudel was off the table for experimentation. So as I hunted around, I found that Carol Fenster’s 1000 GF recipes had a recipe for GF strudel. And just a plug, if you’re GF, buy it. It’s the Joy of Cooking of glutenfreeland. You can get a recipe for pretty much anything, whic
h is a fabulous jumping off point for subsequent recipe tweaking.
As I was reading the directions, she says how a strudel is pretty much apple filling in pie crust. I’ve had GF pie crust kicking around in the fridge forever, and so I opted to make the filling and sandwich it in the pie crust.
Yum! My guinea pigs were quite jazzed. I rolled the bottom a little thickly, but otherwise, it worked well. If I’d taken more time, it would have been prettier, but there are some days I go for pretty and tasty. Some days, pretty tasty will have to do.
I did (and do) intend to make a Cheryl friendly apple concoction sometime in the near future because the smell of this was quite heavenly! We shall see how that goes, and I’ll post on it if it turns out well.
Please do check out the beautiful offerings around the Daring Baker empire...and stay tuned for next month’s fun!
Stumble It!
I’ve heard so many good things about Fenster’s book. I’m not personally GF, but I do make things for people who are from time to time…sounds like a great buy. Pretty tasty is good, you know!
Cheryl – You did a lovely job on your strudel. I’d love to see your version for a Cheryl friendly one. If I had to pick 3 need to have GF cookbooks – I’d get Fenster’s (although I don’t cook her stuff much), Reilly’s (I do cook her things) and the CIA’s GF book by Coppedge (I use his too).
Natalie @ Gluten a Go Go
Awesome job on this challenge!! Your strudel looks great =D.
I noticed you have menu plans. I have written a comprehensive menu planner for those adopting gluten and casein free lifestyle. The menu planner is for families but can be adapted to individuals. There are 3 meals a day 6 days a week of delectable, nutrient dense foods that are low sugar and anti-inflammatory.
Each week’s menus come with the recipes, how to utilize leftovers, preparation and shopping lists as well as medical lessons designed to inform and change behavior.
Please let me know if I can send more information for your site.
Thanks,
Lolita Hanks, FNP
I would love to see a ‘Cheryl friendly’ strudel! I am not eating grains either so would love to see what you came up with grain free. No pressure:) Was also wondering about your chicpea crackers that were in your menu. Are they grain and egg free?
As always, your adaptation is creative and still sounds delicious! And I can’t wait to see what you cook up that’s Cheryl-friendly (and everyone else-friendly, too). 🙂
I used the recipe from Gluten-Free Baking: More Than 125 Recipes for Delectable Sweet and Savory Baked Goods, Including Cakes, Pies, Quick Breads, Muffins, Cookies, and Other Delights Rebecca Reilly and it turned out pretty darn good. I’m going to experiment with her recipe for filo dough though…I think I can make gluten free puff pastry – I’ve been doing this for years and close.
I’ve made strudel the REAL way by stretching as long and wide as my 6 FT dining table – it was crazy – before I knew I had Celiac Disease.
i’ve also tried making them with short crust – which is what it seems you tried. i prefer to use short crust for a galette.