Apple Fruit Nut Strudel With Vanilla Basil Sauce

Variations on the always-popular strudel can provide heightened interest in this classic. This fruit-nut adaptation adds new dimensions of flavor in the strudel itself, with cranberries and star anise to accent the apples, and basil accents in the sauce, which spins vanilla in a new direction.

The manufacturing formula for this product yields a very similar product to the gold-standard recipe, but reduces cost and labor. However, the recipe poses a handful of challenges, like the need to remove cinnamon sticks, star anise seeds and vanilla bean after extracting their flavor at one point in the recipe. Replacing those ingredients with infusions from SpringThyme Oils—and in the case of the vanilla, an extract—mitigates that issue. These novel infusions deliver highly concentrated flavors of vegetables, spices and seasonings in a sunflower or olive oil carrier. Issues due to handling real wine necessitated switching to a white wine concentrate, while using an apple pie filling streamlines manufacturing. Also, the starch was changed from corn starch to a modified food starch to provide manufacturing, freezing and storage stability.

Another option to further streamline manufacturing would be to work with an ingredient supplier to create a filling that includes the sliced apples, cranberries, raisins and perhaps other ingredients, like the nuts, sweeteners and spices—as long as combining them doesn’t compromise the shelf life or integrity of any of the ingredients—all premixed and present in the proper percentages.

A basil vanilla sauce complements the many flavors of the strudel. Basil is one of the most-popular herb flavors in the retail and foodservice market, and we couldn’t help but add it to the dessert arena.

In today’s marketplace, more consumers are reading labels for nutritional value, so substituting soymilk for traditional heavy cream helps improve the nutritional value and opens the product to lactose-free consumers. This strudel is distributed frozen, ready to thaw, slice, plate and serve. 

Recipe:
Ingredients

Strudel 
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons apple juice 
1/2 cup dry white wine 
3 whole star anise 
1 cinnamon stick 
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 
1/2 cup dried cranberries 
1/2  cup raisins 
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped 
1 1/4 pound Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, cut into ½-in. cubes 
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed 
1 1/2 tablespoon corn starch 
2/3 cup hazelnuts, husked, toasted 
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs 
9 17x12-in. sheets fresh phyllo pastry (or frozen and thawed)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 

Basil Vanilla Sauce 
1 1/4 teaspoon basil-flavored oil 
1/2 cup heavy cream 
2 teaspoons honey 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 tablespoon corn starch 

Procedure: For the filling, combine 1 cup apple juice, wine, star anise and cinnamon in a large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 10 minutes. Discard star anise, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. Add the cranberries, raisins, walnuts, apples and sugar; simmer, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes, until apples are tender, but hold shape, and liquid is reduced to 3 tablespoons. Mix corn starch and 2 tablespoons apple juice. Add to filling; stir over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes, until filling thickens and boils. Remove from heat. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly butter heavy, large baking sheet. Blend hazelnuts, sugar and cracker crumbs in food processor until finely ground. Place dry kitchen towel on work surface. Place 1 phyllo sheet on towel and cover remaining phyllo with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Brush phyllo lightly with melted butter. Top with second phyllo sheet and brush lightly with butter. Sprinkle with scant 3 tablespoons nut mixture. Continue with six more phyllo sheets, brushing each lightly with butter and sprinkling with scant 3 tablespoons nut mixture. Top with remaining phyllo sheet. Brush lightly with butter. Spoon filling atop phyllo stack in 12x3-in. log, starting 2 in. from the long side and 2½ in. from each short side. Fold short edges over filling. Using towel as aid and beginning at edge close to filling, roll up strudel, jelly-roll style. Place strudel, seam side down, on prepared baking sheet; brush with butter. Bake uncovered until golden, about 45 minutes. For the sauce, in small saucepan, add milk, vanilla and honey and bring to a low simmer. In a small bowl, make slurry with the corn starch and 2 tablespoons of milk. Add the slurry to milk mixture and continue to stir until thickened. Add the fresh basil infusion and stir well. Serving suggestion: Slice warm strudel and arrange on plate. Drizzle sauce over strudel.

Procedure: Preheat a steam-jacketed kettle to 200°F. Add water, white wine concentrate, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger infusions, and brown sugar. Cook for 15 minutes with moderate agitation. Incorporate the modified food starch. When the liquid thickens, about 2 minutes, add sliced apple filling, raisins, walnuts and cranberries and bring temperature back up to 200°F; then reduce the kettle temperature to a consistent 110°F. Remove filling and cool to 38°F to 42°F. For the strudel nut mixture, combine hazelnuts, graham cracker crumbs and sugar in large food processor until finely ground. Prepare the phyllo sheets using a commercial sheeter distributing the strudel nut mixture between layers. Deposit 4 to 5 oz. of filling into each phyllo sheet and roll strudels. Bake in a 375°F rotary or band oven for approximately 45 minutes until golden brown. Cool immediately to 42°F, package in clear, freezer-proof pouches, with the package form-fitted to the shape of the strudel, and blast freeze. For the sauce, heat a steam-jacketed kettle to 85°F. Add 75% of the soymilk (64.00% by weight) and honey and bring to 190°F under slow agitation. In mixer, slurry the modified food starch and remaining chilled soymilk; add to the mixture and stir until thickened. Turn off heat, but while sauce is still warm, stir in basil infusion until well combined. Hot fill sauce into 1½-oz. freezer-proof, microwave-safe pouches and blast freeze. Package each strudel with a pouch of sauce. End user: Remove strudel and sauce from box and thaw at room temperature for 2 hours. Serve at room temperature. Another option is to remove frozen strudel from packaging and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until warmed through. Microwave sauce in pouch or 30 to 40 seconds. Slice strudel and serve with a drizzle of sauce.