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Andrea’s Vegan Strudel: Yes Vegan!!!

Description

Our resident photographer, head gardener, and the editor of this site (among her many other responsibilities), Andrea Barrist Stern is passionate about living a vegan lifestyle. She is also passionate about strudel. Of the recipe passed down through her family, she says: “I can hardly remember a holiday or party when either my mother, Edith Barrist, or my Aunt Polly didn’t make strudel. My sister-in-law, Lynn, and I have continued that tradition so, today, there is almost no special event in our family or among my friends without it. A vegetarian most of my life, I became a vegan in 2005 and the very first recipe I veganized was strudel. For a long time, no one was the wiser. I simply enjoyed watching everyone savor it, and never said a word.”

This recipe is way easier than the number of steps would seem to indicate, but we've laid it out in steps until you get the hang of it. We hope it will become a tradition in your family, too. (Andrea has tried without success to make this gluten-free as well. If anyone out there masters it, please let us know.)

Ingredients

2
Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (cut into small pieces)
8 ounces
Tofutti cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 cups
Flour (unbleached all-purpose, plus more for dusting)
3 cups
Walnuts (raw, unsalted)
 
Ground Cinnamon (for sprinkling)
3 tablespoons
Sugar
8 ounces
Golden Raisins
2 jars
Preserves (13-ounce jars of your favorite preserves - quality is important here)
 
Tofutti sour cream (at room temperature)

Summary

Yield
Pieces
*As included in For Goodness Sake Cookbook

Instructions

  1. Put the Earth Balance pieces and spoons of the cream cheese into a food processor and pulse until they begin to blend.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of the flour to processor and blend, then add the remaining flour. Pulse until a rough ball of dough is formed.
  3. Heavily dust your work surface with flour. Shape dough into a smooth ball and cut into 4 equal pieces.
  4. Dust each cut edge of dough with flour, and roll each piece into a ball.
  5. Wrap the four dough balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
  6. In a clean food processor bowl, finely chop the walnuts to a bread crumb consistency.
  7. Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, flatten the dough with your palms on a well-floured surface, then roll with a well-floured rolling pin into an oval shape, gently lifting and turning the dough several times and adding more flour to the surface as needed.
  8. Continue rolling until you have an approximately 14- x 18-inch shape.
  9. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon, about 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, 5 heaping tablespoons of nuts, and 3 handfuls of raisins.
  10. Drop preserves by the spoonful, about 1 teaspoon at a time.
  11. Using a pastry tool as shown in the accompanying photos, fold the edges of the dough over on all sides. Gently loosen the dough from your surface as you roll lengthwise to the end of the dough.
  12. Gently transfer the rolled pastry to a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (See photo.) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  13. Scrape your surface clean, remove the next dough ball from the refrigerator and repeat steps 7 through 12 until you have rolled, shaped, and filled all the dough balls.
  14. Spread a thin layer of sour cream over the tops of the rolls.
  15. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the strudel is lightly browned. Cool for 1 hour before cutting.
  16. Trim the ends off each roll and discard. (Or eat. Andrea’s mastiffs would lay on the kitchen floor during the entire process waiting for the ends.) Slice each roll into approximately 10 pieces. Place pieces in decorative foil baking cups.
  17. Place cups of strudel in a sealed container.

Notes

  • The studel can be frozen for six months in an airtight freezer-safe container.
  • Will keep at room temperature in a sealed container for 5 days.
  • This strudel makes a terrific holiday gift. Arrange some in a decorative tin.