Strudel disassembled

Christmas is around the corner, and if you’re unsure about what to prepare for your holiday menu, xtraWine suggests a deconstructed Strudel in a glass.

In case you missed the rest of the menu, it includes Black Truffle Tagliatelle and Pork Loin with Prunes and Oven-Baked Potatoes.

This dessert is simple and certainly effective. However, for assembling the glasses, it’s necessary that the custard is not hot but lukewarm.

Index:

• Ingredients
• Pastry Cream Ingredients
• Apple Filling Ingredients
• Pastry Cream Procedure
• Apple Filling Procedure
• Dessert Assembly
• Wine Pairing

Ingredients

• Sliced Pandoro for the horizontal side, as needed
• Pastry Cream: 475 g
• Filling: Golden apples sautéed in a pan, as needed
• Powdered sugar, as needed

Pastry Cream Ingredients

• 100 g Egg Yolks
• 100 g Granulated Sugar
• 1 Vanilla Bean
• Zest of half a lemon
• 25 g Cornstarch
• 250 g Whole Milk

Apple Filling Ingredients

• 5 Golden Apples
• 4 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp Breadcrumbs
• 1 Lemon: zest and juice
• Ground Cinnamon
• 60 g Raisins
• 3 dl Marsala Wine
• 50 g Toasted Pine Nuts
• 45 g Butter

Pastry Cream Procedure

1. Place a large bowl in the freezer for later use
2. To cook in a bain-marie, place a large pot of water on the heat and bring it to a boil. Then, place a smaller pot or a bowl over the pot with the boiling water
3. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds
4. In a saucepan, combine milk, lemon zest, and vanilla bean seeds, bringing it to a boil
5. In a bowl, mix sugar and cornstarch
6. Add egg yolks to the sugar and cornstarch mixture, whisking vigorously
7. When the milk reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and also remove the lemon zest
8. In the double boiler, pour the egg, sugar, and cornstarch mixture with ¼ of the hot milk and whisk energetically
9. Gradually add the remaining milk while continuously stirring
10. After a few minutes, when the mixture is smooth and reaches 92 °C, remove it from heat
11. Take the bowl from the freezer, pour in the cream, and whisk vigorously
12. When the cream cools to below 50 °C, cover it with cling film and refrigerate

Apple Filling Procedure

1. Rinse the raisins under running water and pat them dry
2. In a bowl, combine raisins and Marsala wine
3. Peel, core, and dice the apples
4. In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and add the diced apples
5. Drain the raisins and add them to the pan along with brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice, pine nuts, and breadcrumbs
6. Mix the ingredients and let them flavor for a few minutes

Dessert Assembly

1. Take the cream out of the fridge
2. Take a pandoro and cut it from the short side. Cut slices that are 1 cm/1.5 cm thick
3. Use a round pastry cutter to cut out Pandoro discs
4. Transfer pastry cream into a piping bag
5. Take the apple filling
6. Take glasses; remember the pastry cutter should be slightly smaller than the glass’s diameter
7. In a glass, pour a thin layer of cream, then a Pandoro disc, followed by a layer of apple filling, another Pandoro disc, and finally, a layer of pastry cream
8. Repeat until all ingredients are used
9. Sprinkle the surface with powdered sugar. Alternatively, you can whip some cream and use a piping bag with a star-shaped tip to pipe it over the custard

Wine Pairing

This is a dessert with complex flavors. xtraWine recommends pairing it with:

• Fontanafredda Asti Spumante Vintage
• Trerè Romagna Albana Passito Mrosa
• Florio Passito di Pantelleria