Homemade strudel is one of those time-consuming and involved baking projects that you need a bit of patience to make. However, if you’re after a quick and easy alternative to traditional stretched strudel pastry, then this easy strudel using puff pastry is a great option!
Filled with cooked down sour cherries, the flavours of this strudel will transport you to Central Europe. It’s a beautiful, impressive dessert that is refreshingly simple to make and you can be digging into it in less than an hour – especially if you’re using store bought puff pastry.
How to Make Sour Cherry Strudel
Many recipes for strudel use breadcrumbs to line the pastry in order to absorb juices. Because the flavour of almonds complements cherries so well, I’ve decided to use almond flour in lieu of crumbs. And to amplify the almond flavour, I suggest toasting the almond flour.
This is simple – all you need to do is add the almond flour to a rimmed baking sheet and then move it to a 180°C/350°F oven for a few minutes – just until it’s golden and fragrant. Or, you can toast it in a skillet like I do in my sour cherry cake.
Now, it’s time to get to the filling. Add some pitted sour cherries (you can use fresh or frozen, it doesn’t matter) to a small saucepan. Pour over some sugar and a couple of tablespoons of water and set it over medium-low heat.
Bring the mixture up to a simmer and allow the cherries to bubble away until they release their juices and they’re beginning to break down – this will take about 10 minutes.
Go ahead and strain the cooked cherries from the liquid that’s accumulated and pour the liquid back into the saucepan.
Set it over medium-low heat and bring it up to a simmer. Let the juices bubble and reduce until it’s thick and syrupy – this will take around 5 minutes.
Once done, pour it over the cherries and stir to combine. Set this aside while you roll out your pastry.
You can use store bought puff pastry to make this incredibly easy, or you can go ahead and make your own rough puff or full puff pastry – but this is slightly more involved.
Whatever version of pastry you use, go ahead and roll it out into a rectangle that’s about 3mm (⅛ in) thick.
Then, sprinkle over your toasted almond flour over half of the pastry – ensuring that you leave a small border. Then, pile your cooked cherries and syrup over the almond flour.
Fold the pastry over the cherries and crimp tightly to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut several steam vents across the strudel.
Then, move it to a 200°C/400°F oven until the strudel is deeply golden and puffed – about 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove the strudel from the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before dusting it generously with icing sugar.
You can serve it warm, but note that the juices will be more contained if you wait for it to cool completely.
Sour Cherry Strudel with Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 25 g (¼ cup) almond flour
- 500 g (1 lb) sour cherries pitted, fresh or frozen
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- ½ tsp orange blossom water optional
- 400 g (14 oz) puff pastry defrosted if store-bought
- icing sugar for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Add the almond flour to a rimmed baking tray and toast in the oven until golden and very fragrant – about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, set aside and increase the oven temperature to 200°C/400°F.
- Add the cherries, sugar and 2 tbsp of water to a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Stirring occasionally, allow the water to come up to a simmer and the cherries to release their juices begin to break down – 7-10 minutes. Use your spoon to break the cherries in half to assist in this. Stir in the orange blossom water, if using.
- Set a fine mesh sieve over a heatproof bowl. Pour the cherries into the sieve, draining off the juices. Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and set over medium-low heat once more. Stirring frequently, bring the liquid to a simmer and reduce until thick and syrupy – about 5 minutes.
- Add the strained cherries to a bowl and pour the reduced juices over the cherries. Stir to combine and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 3mm (⅛in) thick rectangle – the exact dimensions are not as important as the thickness.
- Scatter the toasted almond flour over half of the pastry, leaving a 1 cm (½ in) border. Pile the cherry filling over the almond flour, ensuring that it's evenly distributed.
- Fold the other half of the puff pastry over the cherries and crimp thoroughly to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut 5-6 steam vents over the strudel. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Move the strudel to the oven and bake until puffed, crisp and deeply golden – about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and dust thoroughly with icing sugar. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: Nutritional information is automatically generated and provided as guidance only. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
And that is all there is to making this super simple cherry strudel! Using puff pastry is a great way to streamline the strudel process while still getting excellent results.
Are you looking to make homemade cherry strudel? Have any questions about this recipe? Let me know in the comments!
