The May Daring Bakers’ Challenge.....

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.

What a challenge,this was my first Daring Baker challenge and i had so much fun doing it.I followed the original recipe for the dough which was posted by Courtney of Coco Cooks and Linda of make life sweeter!.I made variations for the filling.My sweet strudel has a Cherry Ricotta filling and the savory one has filling made of Chicken Kebab.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge" recipe of Apple Strudel can be found on the website of Courtney of Coco Cooks and Linda of make life sweeter.

The key to making good strudel is in stretching the dough,it should be so thin that it become practically transparent and we can see the pattern beneath it,little tricky but not difficult.

The recipe for fillings i used are posted below,once again thanks to Courtney and Linda.Happy Struddling to all.........



CHERRY RICOTTA STRUDEL-

INGREDIENTS:-

1/2 pounds fresh Ricotta Cheese, drained overnight
3/4 cups Sugar
1 tablespoons unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/2 tablespoon Lemon peel, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 large Eggs
12-ounce package of frozen dark sweet pitted Cherries,thawed, drained
1/2 cup Sugar

METHOD:-

Line large strainer with cheesecloth; set over deep bowl. Place Ricotta Cheese in the strainer to drain excess liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and let its stand for minimum 3-4 hrs. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, discarding liquid.

In an electric mixer, mix drained Ricotta, Sugar, Butter,Lemon peel and Vanilla. Mix about 4 minutes until smooth. Slowly add the Egg. Then, increase speed of mixer and beat about 4 minutes until light and foamy. Refrigerate to thicken.

In a bowl, mix drained Cherries,3/4 cup sugar and Lemon juice. Marinate for at least one hour. Drain the Cherry mixture.Spread out the Cherries on layers of paper towels to dry for filling;

For dough i followed the instruction given by Courtney and Linda in "The May Daring Bakers’ challenge" recipe of Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus.

Once the dough was stretched to desired thickness, i applied the melted Butter on it with my hand and spread out the Ricotta mixture, then on top of it i spread the drained marinated Cherries and topped it with another layer of Ricotta mixture.

I baked Cherry strudel at 400 degree F for 30 Min's.






CHICKEN KEBAB STRUDEL-

INGREDIENTS:-

1 cup Chicken breast cut into fine strips
1 teaspoon Ginger paste
1 teaspoon Garlic paste
1 teaspoon Cumin powder
1 teaspoon Coriander powder
1 teaspoon Red chili powder
2 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoon Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1/2 cup Onion finely sliced
1 tablespoon of fresh Cilantro finely chopped

METHOD:-

Mix Chicken strips with Ginger paste,Garlic paste,Cumin powder,Coriander powder,red Chili powder,Lemon juice and Salt.Add 1 tablespoon of oil and marinate Chicken for at least for 2-3 hours.

Heat griddle or fry pan add the remaining 2 tablespoon oil and grill the Chicken till it get good golden brown and cook well it will take 7-8 Min's keep stirring it.Chicken will cook fast as it has been cut into fine strips.Add sliced Onion cook for another 2-3 Min's stirring it,add Cilantro and remove from the griddle/fry pan and let it cool completely.Make sure not to pick any oil visible from the griddle so the Chicken filling remain as dry as possible.

Once the dough is stretched to desired thickness,apply the melted Butter on it and spread cooled Chicken filling.Fold the dough,apply Butter on top and bake at 400 degree.My Chicken strudel was done in 22 Min's.

NOTE:-


I used exactly same recipe for the dough as given in the challenge recipe and divided the dough in 2 portion using half for Cherry Ricotta strudel and another half for Chicken strudel.



I folded the dough following the instruction in the link to a strudel making video given by Courtney and Linda,it helped a lot.









I baked my strudel exactly as told in the original recipe given by Courtney and Linda,
in fact except filling every thing is same.