Strudel? Always !!!

I've talked so many times about my love for strudel, so I don't want to bother you again with this story.
But I do want to present you my new cherry strudel. Last year I made a simple one, with cherries and apples. This year I wanted to make it a bit different. I had this recipe for sour cream strudel that had raisins in it. But I don't like raisins at all so I never got to make it. Looking through my recipes I thought, why not use some fresh fruit instead of raisins, and since cherries are still in season, the choice was more than obvious.
It was absolutely delicious. And definitely better the following day after. But who could resist it when still warm, just out of the oven? And then, cherries come and go quickly. They won't be back before next year.


My husband doesn't really have a sweet tooth, definitely not my sweet tooth, but strudel is one of his favourite desserts.
When I told him I had prepared a strudel, he jokingly asked if my father was anywhere around. Of course, he wasn't - he's 800 km far.
It's kind of our joke, because with my father around, there's usually little left for anyone else.
Next Friday, however we'll be travelling to Bosnia and Croatia, to visit my father first, and then a few days on Adriatic coast, at the seaside.



Sour Cream Cherry Strudel

For phyllo dough:
250 g flour
100 ml warm water
50 ml milk
a little salt
3 TBspoons oil

**instead of making the phyllo, you can simply use the storebought :))))

Filling
50 g butter
2 eggs
50 g caster sugar
30 g powdered sugar
25 g flour
1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 lemon
200 g ricotta cheese
150 ml sour cream
150 g cherries

For brushing:
1,5 dl milk
1 egg yolk
15 g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Put the flour, the salt and the oil in a bowl, start stirring and adding water and milk mixed together until you have taken in all the flour.
Soft, sticky dough will start forming.
Turn it on a floured kneading board, and knead, adding a bit more flour if necessary until a soft, elastic ball is formed. The longer you knead it, the more elastic will it become. Divide the dough in two, shape into balls, sprinkle them with flour, cover and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. It's very important to leave the dough rest.
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin a floured tablecloth as thin as you can.
Oil the whole surface.
Start pulling the dough in all directions by placing your hands underneath - gently, it's elastic but will break easily. Try to form a rectangle (more or less regular).
With a knife, or simply pulling away with your hands, remove the thick edge all around. And now, your phyllo is ready to be filled.
Cream the butter, caster sugar and powdered sugar using an electric mixer.
Mix in the egg yolks, the vanilla seeds from ½ a vanilla bean, finely grated zest of ½ lemon and the juice squeezed from the same half, the ricotta, the sour cream and the flour.
Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them gently into the cheese and cream mixture.
Add the cherries, pitted and chopped.
Distribute half of the prepared filling along the longer side of the phyllo rectangle. Drizzle with oil or melted butter.


Lifting one side of the tablecloth, roll the dough up to form the strudel. Place the strudel in a baking dish lined with baking paper and sprayed or drizzled with oil. You can divide the strudel in two if your baking dish isn’t long enough.

Repeat with the second part of the dough.
Mix the milk, the egg yolk, the sugar and the vanilla sugar.
Pour part of this mixture over the strudels, and bake them in an oven preheated to 200°C for about 30 minutes. While the strudels are baking, brush them several times with the remaining egg wash.



Strudel con panna acida e ciliegie

*per pasta phyllo:
250 g farina
100 ml acqua tiepida
50 ml latte
Un pizzico di sale
3 cucchiai di olio

*ripieno:
50 g burro
2 uova
50 g zucchero semolato
30 g zucchero a velo
25 g farina
1/2 baccello di vaniglia
1/2 limone non trattato
200 g ricotta
150 ml panna acida
150 g ciliegie (denocciolate)

*per spennellare:
1,5 dl latte
1 tuorlo
15 g zucchero
1 cucchiaino di zucchero vanigliato

Pasta phyllo:
In una ciotola, mettete la farina setacciata, aggiungete l'olio, sale e l'acqua mescolata al latte, mescolate fino a incorporare tutta la farina, formando un impasto omogeneo.
Trasferite tutto su una spianatoia infarinata, e lavorate a lungo aggiungendo altra farina ogni volta che la sfoglia inizia ad appiccicarsi alle mani. Più a lungo lavorate la sfoglia più sarà elastica dopo.
Dividete l'impasto in due parti uguali e formate due palline, cospargetele di farina e lasciatele riposare coperte per 30 minuti.
Nel frattempo, preparate il ripieno.
Mescolate il burro ammorbidito con lo zucchero semolato e lo zucchero a velo usando uno sbattitore elettrico. Unite i tuorli, i semi di mezzo baccello di vaniglia, la buccia grattugiata e il succo di mezzo limone , la ricotta e la panna acida. Mescolate bene tutto.
In un’altra ciotola sbattete i due albumi a neve ferma e poi mescolateli delicatamente al composto di ricotta e tuorli. Unite le ciliegie denocciolate e tagliate a metà o in quattro.
Coprite il tavolo con una tovaglia pulita e infarinatela. Mettete una pallina di sfoglia al centro e stendetela con il mattarello. Ungete tutta la superficie della sfoglia con l'olio. Poi, infilando le mani sotto la pasta, tiratela delicatamente in tutte le direzioni e senza fretta, fino ad ottenere un rettangolo di sfoglia molto sottile (e trasparente).
Con un coltello tagliate i bordi spessi.
Distribuite metà del ripieno lungo il lato più lungo. Arrotolate lo strudel aiutandovi con la tovaglia. Tagliatelo in due parti e trasferitelo su una teglia ricoperta da carta da forno.
Ripetete tutto con l'altra parte della pasta phyllo e il ripieno rimasto.
Mescolate il latte, il tuorlo e lo zucchero e versate una parte sopra i strudel.
Metteteli a cuocere nel forno già preriscaldato a 200°C per circa 30 minuti.
Spennellateli con il resto del latte più volte durante la cottura.



Savijača s vrhnjem i trešnjama

za vučeno tijesto:
250 g brašna
100 ml mlake vode
50 ml mlijeka
malo soli
3 žlice ulja

nadjev:
50 g maslaca
2 jaja
50 g kristal šećera
30 g šećera u prahu
25 g brašna
1/2 mahune vanilije
1/2 neprskanog limuna
200 g svježeg kravljeg sira
150 ml kiselog vrhnja
150 g trešanja

za premaz:
1,5 dl mlijeka
1 žumanjak
15 g šećera
1 vanilin šećer

Od navedenih sastojaka zamijesite tijesto, podijelite ga na dva dijela i ostavite da odmara pokriveno pola sata.
Za nadjev umutite mikserom omekšali maslac s obje vrste šećera. Dodajte žumanjke, nastrugane sjemenke 1/2 mahune vanilije, naribanu koricu 1/2 limuna i iscijeđeni sok 1/2 limuna, sir, vrhnje i brašno.
Umutite čvrst snijeg od malo posoljenih bjeljanjaka pa ih umiješajte u smjesu od sira.
Dodajte trešnje koje ste odkoštili i narezali na četvero.
Razvaljajte i razvucite tanko tijesto (ne pretanko) da dobijete pravokutnik. Premažite ga s malo otopljenog maslaca ili pošpricajte uljem. Rasporedite nadjev uz rub duže stranice i savijte, pa stisnite krajeve. Stavljajte na pleh obložen papirom za pečenje i posut s malo ulja. Ponovite i s drugom korom.
Za premaz pomiješajte sve sastojke i prelijte jedan dio preko savijača.
Pecite savijače u pećnici zagrijanoj na 200°C 30-40 minuta. Više puta ih premažite preostalim preljevom tijekom pečenja.