The dough for a proper apfelstrudel is stretched by hand until it is almost see-through — so thin that, according to Austrian bakers, you should be able to read a newspaper through it. This takes practice and gentle, patient hands. The stretched dough is laid on a floured cloth and the filling is spread over most of it.
The apple filling is mixed with breadcrumbs (which soak up the apple juice as it bakes), sugar, cinnamon, raisins and sometimes a little lemon zest. Once the filling is spread out, the baker lifts the cloth and uses it to roll the dough and filling up into a log shape, which then bakes in the oven until golden.
Apfelstrudel has been made in Austria for at least 300 years. The oldest known written recipe was found in a Viennese cookbook from 1696. The dish probably arrived in Austria from the Ottoman Empire, and similar pastries with thin dough and sweet fillings are found across many countries from Turkey to Hungary.
You will find apfelstrudel in every Austrian coffeehouse and bakery. The smell of warm cinnamon and apple wafting out of a bakery is one of the most recognisable smells in Austria. In many Austrian families, grandmothers have their own secret recipe passed down through generations.