[chefozine]

I tried to make studel. Followed this recipe on YouTube:

The dough I make looks good, it stretches, got a good texture. But the problem is that after I put it in the oven, it does not turn to this soft but brittle type of dough you'd expect from strudel (something like croissant). It turns out hard after I put it in the oven. Something the texture of the outer part of bread. I hope you understand what I mean.
What do I need to do to fix it? To make the end result a airy, soft + brittle studel ? (I hope that's the right description of what studel should end up like)

 

[flipflopgirl]

I skipped the vid as my best advice would be to (save the time and $$ it would take) move on to another recipe instead of trying to fix this one.
Not being snarky but I am not huge on internet recipes.
Either purchase or hit the library to check out a cookbook written by an experienced, tried and true baker.
Rose Levy Beranbaum comes to mind when I need to bake an Eastern Europe type whatever.
I have never had a problem with even one of her recipes and I trust her enuf to not worry when I go out on a limb to use one for an event...altho I always test drive new recipes no matter the source.

mimi

 

[brianshaw]

... I tend to agree about Internet recipes (and even some cookbooks by well-known celebrity chefs - I’m not hating it’s just that the recipes either don’t work or turn out anything like the pictures)... but there are two web sites with fool-proof baking recipes: Joe Pastry and Joy Of Baking.

 

[brianshaw]

... and one more piece of advise; I hope it is possible for you: if not sure about how a strudel should be like, eat some from different bakeries and experience the difference rather than asking for random people on the internet to tell you. Both are valid research methods but eating it yourself will be a richer experience... in more ways than one.

 

[flipflopgirl]

... and one more piece of advise; I hope it is possible for you: if not sure about how a strudel should be like, eat some from different bakeries and experience the difference rather than asking for random people on the internet to tell you. Both are valid research methods but eating it yourself will be a richer experience... in more ways than one.

The most solid advice I have seen in a very long time.

mimi

 

[brianshaw]

... and not to take this too far off topic... but continueing with some pastry books as recipe sources:

Rose... she’s the greatest but not always perfect. Her books have occasional errors but where she really shines is her openness about addressing them. She is rare in that respect; a very decent human being in all ways, it seems. Check her website for errata. Not long ago I updated my books with that errata.

Another good source for “foolproof” pastry is dear Julia... Baking with Julia. Between Julia and the world-class bakers who she collaborated... another epic source of proven pastry recipes.

And, ahhhh, dear Jacque... Complete Techniques... good, always work, but may be too cryptic for a beginner. I guess that depends on the individual.

For more of a commercial approach: the pastry book by Michel Suas of SFBI. There may be others of this ilk, like from CIA but I’ve never reviewed or used others.

 

[brianshaw]

Oh, and just one more to consider... Sherry Yard’s Dessert By The Yard. She’s incredibly talented, has baked around the world, and has written a very reliabe and diverse baking book.

 

[Pat Pat]

The recipe is sound.

I suspect that you didn't stretch it thin enough; a very common mistake for first timers.

Strudel dough is pretty much a bread dough that you stretch very thin, so if it's not thin, it would be like bread.

The fact that he uses only egg whites instead of whole eggs could factor into it being harder/crispier than usual, but not to the degree that you described.

Another important step he didn't mention is that you should let the dough dry out on the table for about 10 minutes after you finished stretching, before brushing it with butter.