{"id":73061,"date":"2024-06-27T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-27T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=73061"},"modified":"2026-03-17T07:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T06:32:18","slug":"apfelstrudel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/apfelstrudel\/","title":{"rendered":"Viennese Apple Strudel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/applestrudelsmall.jpg\" alt=\"Apfelstrudel on a plate\" class=\"wp-image-73059\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/applestrudelsmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/applestrudelsmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The first food mentioned in Maria&#8217;s list of favourite things in <em>The Sound of Music<\/em> and a mainstay of menus across Vienna: the Apfelstrudel or apple strudel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A classic Viennese dish<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uses its own kind of pastry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Numerous other kinds of strudel exist<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Book a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiqets.com\/en\/concerts-opera-vienna-tickets-l206741\/?partner=visitingvienna&amp;tq_campaign=LG_FandD\" rel=\"sponsored\">concert experience<\/a>* for your Vienna trip<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/pastries-desserts\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"25982\">Other traditional pastries &amp; desserts<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/traditional-food-drink\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1654\">Traditional food &amp; drink<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/vienna-cakes\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22533\">Cakes &amp; Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apfelstrudel!<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/applestrudel.jpg\" alt=\"Apfelstrudel or apple strudel\" class=\"wp-image-47733\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/applestrudel.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/applestrudel-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A piece of apple strudel. Note the crisp flaky pastry and the dusting of icing sugar)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Open up practically any menu in a Viennese <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/coffee-houses\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"7689\">coffee house<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/konditorei\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"23020\">Konditorei<\/a>, or restaurant, and Apfelstrudel (apple strudel) lurks somewhere within. Not least because, as a survey has shown, Austrians rate it their second-favourite sweet dish after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/kaiserschmarren\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"6137\">Kaiserschmarren<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might find Apfelstrudel suggested as an accompaniment for your coffee. Or perhaps it sits coquettishly on the dessert menu, waving a dollop of whipped cream to seal the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Vienna, apple strudel generally consists of baked rolled pastry with a filling consisting largely of (and this will shock you) cooking apples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the ingredients typically also include sultanas, roasted breadcrumbs, sugar, and cinnamon. Along with apple varieties that tend to the sour side, this combination gives the strudel its distinctive flavour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditionally, Apfelstrudel uses its own extremely thin pastry, which can be quite challenging to make, master and manipulate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many home bakers (well, me at least) tend to buy ready-to-use prepacked strudel pastry. Puff pastry makes a decent option, too, particularly for alternative strudel varieties (see below).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The history<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gerstnerstrudel.jpg\" alt=\"Apple strudel\" class=\"wp-image-74320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gerstnerstrudel.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/gerstnerstrudel-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Gerstner premises at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/gerstner-palais-todesco\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"81841\">Palais Todesco<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/gerstner-schonbrunn\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"74321\">Sch\u00f6nbrunn palace<\/a> make a great strudel. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/vienna-pass-review\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"3960\">Vienna Pass<\/a> includes a strudel show at the latter location)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The German word strudel means the swirls, eddies and whirlpools you get in water. The term finds metaphorical application, and its use to describe this apple-based delight stems from the appearance of the rolled up form when sliced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although closely associated with Austria and Vienna in particular, the strudel joins a list of classic dishes actually adopted and adapted from elsewhere (see, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/wiener-schnitzel\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"45\">the Schnitzel<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to ministerial sources, strudel pastry first originated in North Africa. We can largely thank imperial conflicts for its presence in Vienna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ottomans brought the pastry with them on their military forays into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/habsburgs\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"12848\">Habsburg territories<\/a>. And all promising novelties in Habsburg territories inevitably found their way to Vienna for fine tuning to local tastes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"otherstrudel\">Not just apples<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/strudelpastry.jpg\" alt=\"Strudel pastry\" class=\"wp-image-48257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/strudelpastry.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/strudelpastry-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Close up of the pastry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though English-speakers typically associate the term strudel with the apple strudel, our local cuisine has other varieties in both sweet and savoury form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Apfelstrudel is the most famous example, of course, and the one normally meant when you simply ask for strudel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might, however, enjoy a main course of Spinatstrudel (with a spinach filling). At my home, we regularly eat Gem\u00fcsestrudel (with a broader vegetable filling) along with a sour cream sauce flavoured with chives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If any meat eaters feel left out, well, you can also enjoy a Fleischstrudel (usually with a mincemeat filling).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And on the sweeter side of life&#8230;Topfenstrudel (quark filling) and Mohnstrudel (poppy seed filling) might, for example, join Apfelstrudel on the dessert menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more desserts and pastries popular in Vienna, try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/food\/pastries-desserts\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"25982\">this list<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first food in Maria&#8217;s list of favourite things and a mainstay of menus across Vienna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-73061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-food","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73061"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89236,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73061\/revisions\/89236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}