Dried Fruit Strudel with Pear-Brandy Custard Sauce

Name: Dried Fruit Strudel with Pear-Brandy Custard Sauce
Yield: Serves 10
Ingredients: ⅓ cup eau-de-vie, such as pear, prunelle, mirabelle or framboise, or dark rum or brandy; ½ teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons sugar; ¼ cup cold solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces; ¼ cup sour cream; ⅓ cup cold water, plus more as needed; 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces; Grated zest of 1 orange; Grated zest of 1 lemon; ¾ cup golden raisins; ½ cup dried currants; ⅔ cup coarsely chopped dried pitted dates; ⅔ cup coarsely chopped pitted prunes; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 2 large firm-ripe pears, such as Bosc (about 1¼ pounds); 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 2 tablespoons honey; 3 gingersnap cookies, coarsely crumbled (use 4, if the pears are very juicy); 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; ½ teaspoon ground allspice; ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom; ¼ teaspoon fresh-grated nutmeg; Tiny pinch freshly ground pepper; Cream or milk and sugar, for glaze; Eggnog Custard Sauce, with 3 tablespoons pear eau-de-vie or other brandy, or to taste; Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Preparation info

Serves
10

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Classic Home Desserts

By Richard Sax

Published 1994

About

This strudel is not an Old-World specialty, but it’s in that spirit. It’s made with a flaky sour cream dough that’s easy to handle; the filling is a blend of fresh and dried fruits—almost a mincemeat—perfumed with pear brandy. Serve the strudel warm, with a pool of cool custard surrounding each portion.

Ingredients

Sour Cream Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
½

Dessert
Pastry
Vegetarian

Method

SOUR CREAM DOUGH: Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and shortening and pulse briefly until the mixture is crumbly. Stir together the sour cream and cold water; add to the flour mixture and process just until combined. Add just enough extra cold water, a spoonful at a time, until the dough begins to clump togethe