Previous posts about Apfelstrudel and Milchrahmstrudel signal of the centrality of the strudel in the Viennese kitchen. Indeed, no sweet is so closely identified with the Austrian capital as strudel. Strudel and the technique of hand-stretching dough to the point of paper-thinness, as you may recall, was brought to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Ottomans, who carried it with them as they conquered the Balkans and made for the gates of Vienna. Cookbooks indicate that, by the eighteenth century, strudel dough had become an important vehicle, if you like, in the Austrian and Viennese kitchens, a container for both savoury and sweet fillings alike: not only apple, but almonds, walnuts, poppy seeds, potatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, beans, pears, and semolina. Really, strudel dough was a blanket for whatever was in season. Strudels remain easy to find on coffeehouse menus. Spinatstrudel, filled with spinach and usually sheep's cheese, is a popular savoury variation, and on the sweet side of things, the classics remain Apfel-, Milchrahm-, and Topfenstrudel.
In order to successfully make a Topfenstrudel, the Quark at the dessert's heart has to be both enriched and stabilised or bulked out. The enrichment is for flavour purposes, and here, egg yolks, butter, or cream come in. The stabilisation or bulk, on the one hand, makes the Topfen go further, and on the other, creates a filling thick or stiff enough to be rolled up inside the strudel dough. One suggestion is to use a package of vanilla pudding powder, which of course contains cornstarch. Another is to use breadcrumbs, dragging it more in the direction of the Milchrahmstrudel. A more traditional technique, I sense, is the use of whole eggs (and not merely the yolks) and a little bit of semolina. Other important flavourings include raisins and Austrian domestically-produced rum. Topfenstrudel, rather than being accompanied by whipped cream as is oft the case with Apfelstrudel, is served with a side of custard. Dairy on dairy, I know, but the smooth, creamy custard is a useful foil for the grainy texture of the strudel.
