Bev typed this before she was 12 but has no idea where
the recipe came from
1 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ cup lukewarm water
¼ cup melted butter
1/3 cup butter
½ cup fine breadcrumbs
¾ cup blanched almonds, chopped fine
8 cups fresh cherries, pitted (about 3 lbs)
1 cup sugar
Melted butter for basting
Icing sugar
Mix and sift flour and salt into a deep bowl; make a hollow in the flour and add the egg and water; mix.
Turn out the mixture on a lightly floured board; knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. It will take about 20 minutes to develop the elasticity for stretching.
Cover the dough with a warm bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes. As the bowl cools, cover the dough with another warm bowl.
Prepare the filling while the dough is resting; melt butter in a frying pan, add breadcrumbs and fry them until they are a very light brown, stirring constantly; mix with almonds and set aside.
Wash and pit cherries and set them aside until the dough is stretched.
To stretch the dough, cover a standard-size kitchen table (24x40 inches) with a floured cloth. Place dough in centre and roll into a large circle as evenly as possible and then start to stretch it. Do this by closing your hands and pushing it out with the back of your hands, working from the center to the outside edges and from underneath. Don’t use your fingers – your nails will tear the dough. Keep moving around the table, stretching and pulling and working until the dough covers the entire tap of the table and hangs over the sides. It will be as thin as tissue paper and if you use care, should not break. Trim off uneven edges with scissors to make a neat rectangle.
Let the stretched dough dry for 10 minutes.
Brush with ¼ cup of melted butter; sprinkle buttered breadcrumbs and almonds over the dough; place pitted cherries over two-thirds of it. Sprinkle the cherries with the sugar.
Starting with the edge of the cherry filled area, turn over a small part of the dough on the filling; then, if you hold the cloth high, the strudel will then roll itself into a big roll. Trim and tuck in the ends of the roll neatly. Transfer to a greased cookie sheet and shape like a horseshoe. Brush with butter.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Brush with melted butter, turn down heat to 350 degrees and bake 35 minutes longer, brushing with melted butter at 10 minute intervals
Remove from oven, sprinkle over with icing sugar and serve hot or cold.