Pear Strudel (Reduced Sugar)
By America's Test KitchenPublished on May 8, 2020
Time
1¾ hours, plus 20 minutes cooling
Yield
Serves 6
Sugar
17 grams (down from 34)
Ingredients
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. Phyllo dough is also available in larger 18 by 14–inch sheets; if using, cut them in half to make 14 by 9–inch sheets. To thaw the phyllo, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for 4 to 5 hours; do not microwave the phyllo.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine pears, Sucanat, brandy, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ⅛ teaspoon salt in large bowl, cover, and microwave, stirring occasionally, until pears are slightly pliable, about 3 minutes. Drain pears in colander set over bowl for 5 minutes. Measure out and reserve ¼ cup drained juice in separate bowl; supplement juice with water if necessary. Return pears to bowl and stir in walnuts and flour.
- Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Combine ¼ cup drained juice, melted butter, and ⅛ teaspoon salt in bowl. Place 16½ by 12-inch sheet parchment on counter, long side facing you.
- With short sides facing you, place 1 phyllo sheet on left side of parchment and another on right side of parchment, overlapping them in center by 1 inch. Brush phyllo with butter mixture. With long side facing you, place third phyllo sheet so that it extends 6 inches beyond top edge of other phyllo sheets and overlaps them by about 3 inches; brush it with ½ tablespoon butter mixture. Repeat this step 3 more times with remaining 9 phyllo sheets and 4½ tablespoons butter mixture.
- Arrange pears into 11 by 4-inch rectangle on bottom third of phyllo, leaving 2-inch border along bottom and 2½-inch border along sides. Using parchment to lift, fold sides and then bottom of phyllo sheets over filling, leaving parchment behind as you fold. Loosely but firmly roll phyllo around filling, leaving parchment behind as you roll.
- Gently transfer strudel to prepared baking sheet, seam side down and brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake until golden brown, 27 to 35 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
- Let strudel cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to serving platter or cutting board and slice into 6 pieces. Let sliced strudel cool for 20 minutes longer before serving.
Time
1¾ hours, plus 20 minutes coolingYield
Serves 6Sugar
17 grams (down from 34)Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
We started with the pear filling. Deeply flavorful Sucanat complemented the pears nicely, and ¼ cup was all we needed to supplement the natural sweetness of the pears. We added a little pear brandy for additional pear flavor; cinnamon offered warm background notes while lemon juice kept the flavors in balance. Although the flavor of this strudel was good, tasters wanted more textural contrast; chopped walnuts fit the bill and added a pleasant nutty flavor to the strudel. To avoid a soggy crust, we parcooked the pears in the microwave and drained away the excess liquid. Next, we turned our attention to the phyllo dough. Traditional strudel recipes often call for brushing every layer of dough with butter and then sprinkling with sugar. We wanted to eliminate the sugar from this step, and tried using just butter, but this made the dough greasy and overly rich. Instead, we decided to put the drained pear juice to work: We stirred a small amount into the melted butter, which reinforced the pear flavor and helped achieve the perfectly crisp and golden crust we were after. However, we found that when we sliced into our finished strudel, the crisp crust we had worked so hard for tended to split and crack along the top and disintegrate into the filling, leaving us with a mess. We found that the air vents, traditionally called for to prevent the inner layers of phyllo from becoming mushy, were weakening the structure of the dough. To solve this, we simply skipped cutting the air vents and instead sliced the strudel almost immediately after it came out of the oven.
Before You Begin
You can learn more about Sucanat in this article. Phyllo dough is also available in larger 18 by 14–inch sheets; if using, cut them in half to make 14 by 9–inch sheets. To thaw the phyllo, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter for 4 to 5 hours; do not microwave the phyllo.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine pears, Sucanat, brandy, lemon juice, cinnamon, and ⅛ teaspoon salt in large bowl, cover, and microwave, stirring occasionally, until pears are slightly pliable, about 3 minutes. Drain pears in colander set over bowl for 5 minutes. Measure out and reserve ¼ cup drained juice in separate bowl; supplement juice with water if necessary. Return pears to bowl and stir in walnuts and flour.
- Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray. Combine ¼ cup drained juice, melted butter, and ⅛ teaspoon salt in bowl. Place 16½ by 12-inch sheet parchment on counter, long side facing you.
- With short sides facing you, place 1 phyllo sheet on left side of parchment and another on right side of parchment, overlapping them in center by 1 inch. Brush phyllo with butter mixture. With long side facing you, place third phyllo sheet so that it extends 6 inches beyond top edge of other phyllo sheets and overlaps them by about 3 inches; brush it with ½ tablespoon butter mixture. Repeat this step 3 more times with remaining 9 phyllo sheets and 4½ tablespoons butter mixture.
- Arrange pears into 11 by 4-inch rectangle on bottom third of phyllo, leaving 2-inch border along bottom and 2½-inch border along sides. Using parchment to lift, fold sides and then bottom of phyllo sheets over filling, leaving parchment behind as you fold. Loosely but firmly roll phyllo around filling, leaving parchment behind as you roll.
- Gently transfer strudel to prepared baking sheet, seam side down and brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake until golden brown, 27 to 35 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking.
- Let strudel cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to serving platter or cutting board and slice into 6 pieces. Let sliced strudel cool for 20 minutes longer before serving.
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