HBin5 Whole Wheat Apple Strudel

Apples, pecans and cinnamon......Oh my!

This is the final bread from this particular assignment with HBin5 club being hosted by BigBlackDogs....

There was a lot of talk about how this particular recipe works or doesn't work. I'm glad I waited until the end to make mine cuz I think I learned an awful lot from the others. Actually I know I did.

One of the biggest issues was the wetness of the bread due to the baked apples. Another concerns were too much filling and air pockets. (making mental note)

When it came time to make mine, I didn't have the required amount of dough left in my bin after making my Soft Sandwich bread and my Hamburger buns. I think I had about a pound instead of 1 1/2 pounds. Normally that would have really worried me and I would've other thought everything but the way this bread is made and assembled.....for some reason I was pretty calm. I figured it would either work or it wouldn't....

Only time would tell.

Sooo...I got out the good stuff and got to work...

One of the suggestions was to use only one apple instead of the recommended two apples. Noted. And since the issue had to do with moisture I picked out what I consider a rather dry apple....Red Delicious.

For the rest of the ingredients, I pretty much kept those amounts the same, even though my dough was "smaller" than the recipe called for....but I eyeballed it so I can't be positive but does it really matter?

And then I thought.....how yummy would this be if I added.....

wait for it....

wait.... for.... it............

CHEESE!!!!

Brie Cheese to be exact!

Yaaaa...that's the ticket. 

So I sliced off probably a bit more than half of this little "wheel". And I proceeded to roll out my dough into a rectangle.....sprinkled the cinnamon fruit goodies and laid out the cheese

Note to self: next time maybe lay them out the other direction...it will be easier to roll

And the next step was to roll this baby into a log, starting on a short end

It took some work but I did it.

Then came an obstacle. I wasn't really paying attention....but ummm....my log is longer than my bread pan. eerrr....crap. That was dumb. What the hell was I thinking? (someone's voice in my head keeps saying "that's the problem...you weren't thinking) yaya..whatever. Shut up and let me think. Ok...not a lot I can do here....other than.....yep....you got it....squuuuuiiiiiiiiish

(ssshhh...don't tell anyone but..I had to squish this poor little loaf twice because I had forgotten to grease the pan....so I had to un-squish, grease and re-squish. That's a lot of squishing. It's beginning to look a little bit like a caterpillar isn't it.)

I'm trying to think.....that picture might be after the rise. but I can't remember. So I'll include this one also...which shows the top sprinkled doused in cinnamon sugar just before going into the oven. Oh ya, I had almost forgotten to add the cinnamon sugar....this little guy was already in the oven for a splint second when I remembered that step....(whew...not my day for "thinking" AT ALL!). 

Ya, so I gave it an egg wash and cinnamon sugar bath while it was all squished in its little tub.

Now because I had used less dough I set the timer for 45 minutes. (instructions had said 50 - 60 minutes). I purchased an instant read thermometer which is totally useless for my intended purpose as the instructions (which were read after I got home and the next day after every important paper, receipt was tossed in the trash and taken out) said not to use it in a closed oven. And by the time it "instantly reads" anything? The temp has changed. Good thing it was cheap.

Anyways...I ended up cooking this little caterpillar for pretty close to the full time of 60 minutes.

(apparently my breads have a "thing" going on with San Andreas)

But check this baby out......

See those little bits of white? The tell tale signs of the brie. Which added a slight tang that only brie can do while meshing with the sweet interior.

This makes the most awesome toast! My first slice had spun honey....that was so good even Simba was begging for a bite

The kids and I have discovered that it's even better as cinnamon toast. This lovely loaf has been a great hit! Loved it and I would make it again...espeically for a holiday.