Sour Cherry Strudel made with Phyllo Dough
You’ll love this Cherry Strudel made with tart cherries and crisp phyllo dough. It’s perfect for dessert or brunch.
For my first job out of pastry school I worked for a very well-known Austrian pastry chef. I learned to make strudel from him and we always used phyllo dough. I’ve been making strudel with phyllo ever since.
This strudel is filled with sour cherries. The sweet and tart fruit is the perfect filling for the crisp dough.
I’m lucky to have a sour cherry tree. I preserve and freeze the cherries and use them all year to make pies, cobblers and cakes.
If you don’t have access to fresh sour cherries the best substitute would be frozen or jarred sour cherries packed in their own juice. In a pinch, you could use cherry pie filling for this strudel.
Process Photos
- Combine the cherry juice with cornstarch.
- Cook the juice until it’s thickened.
- Fold the thickened juice into the cherries.
- Gather the components for the strudel and lay out a clean kitchen towel. Keep the phyllo covered so it doesn’t dry out.
- Line the bread crumbs and cherry filling onto the dough.
- Use the towel to flip the dough over the filling and fold in the sides.
- Use the towel to flip the strudel onto the sheet pan.
- Brush the strudel with more butter and bake until golden brown.
Recipe tips for working with smaller phyllo sheets
- Whether you use small or large phyllo sheets, you will need 8 oz of dough. Any left over dough can be re-frozen and used later.
If you are using large (14″x18″) phyllo sheets layer the strudel as described in the recipe. If you are using smaller phyllo sheets (usually 9″x14″) you can either divide the filling and make two small strudels or you can overlap the sheets of dough to build a stable crust for one large strudel. Here’s how to do it:
- Lay a sheet of Phyllo on the towel with the short side facing you. Lightly brush the dough with melted butter then overlap two more sheets of phyllo so that you form a square of about 18″. Sprinkle the layer with a teaspoon of sugar.
- Next place a sheet of phyllo in the opposite direction (long side facing you). Brush the sheet with butter and slightly overlap another sheet of dough in the same direction. This layer will be more of a rectangle shape. Sprinkle this layer with a teaspoon of sugar.
- Repeat building alternating layers until all the sheets are used.
- Proceed with the recipe as it’s written.
Work Ahead
- The strudel can be completely assembled and held in the refrigerator overnight to be baked in the morning. Make sure to generously brush the strudel with melted butter to prevent the pastry from drying out.
- The assembled strudel can also be frozen for up to a month. Defrost the strudel before baking.
- If the strudel is cold from the refrigerator or freezer you may need to increase the baking time by 10-15 minutes.
Storage
Cherry strudel is best the day it is baked but will keep at room temperature for 2 days.
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Sour Cherry Strudel
Ingredients
- 2 lbs sour cherries (pitted (1½ lbs frozen or jarred cherries w/juice))
- 8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 1 ¼ oz corn starch (¼ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 8 oz Phyllo dough (about 9 14"x18" sheets, defrosted)
- 3 oz unsalted butter (melted)
- 1 ½ oz dry bread crumbs (½ cup)
- Confectioner’s sugar for finishing
Instructions
- Toss 2 lbs sour cherries (pitted) with 8 oz granulated sugar and allow to macerate for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes drain the cherries, reserving the juice. Transfer the cherries to a large bowl and set aside.
- Whisk a 1/2 cup of the cherry juice with 1 ¼ oz corn starch until smooth. Place the remaining juice and ¼ teaspoon table salt in a small saucepan. Bring the juice to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the boiling juice in a steady stream. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil and thickens to a pudding-like texture.
- Remove the thickened juice from the heat and immediately pour it over the pitted cherries. Toss to combine. Set the cherries aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. Line a half sheet baking pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Unroll the Phyllo sheets and cover them with a damp paper towel so they don't dry out. Lay a clean kitchen towel that is larger than the baking sheet on your work surface. Lay a sheet of Phyllo on the towel with the long side facing you.
- Lightly brush the dough with melted butter then sprinkle a teaspoon of granulated sugar over the butter. Top with another layer of phyllo. Brush that layer of dough with butter and sprinkle with a teaspoon of sugar.
- Continue adding layers of dough until all the sheets are used.
- Sprinkle 1 ½ oz dry bread crumbs in a 4” wide strip across the bottom third of the pastry. Leave a 2” border on either end. Pour the cherry filling over the bread crumbs in an even layer.
- Starting from the side closest to you, use the kitchen towel to fold the dough over the cherries. Fold in the two ends then continue rolling the strudel like a burrito. Use the opposite side of the towel to flip the strudel so the seam side is up.
- Use the towel to lift the strudel and flip the strudel off the towel onto the baking sheet, seam side down. Use your hands to tuck in the ends and straighten out the strudel. Brush the top of the strudel with more melted butter.
- Bake until deeply golden brown, about 35 minutes. Cool on the baking pan for at least 30 minutes then transfer the strudel to a cutting board. Use a serrated knife with a sawing motion and, working on a slight angle, slice off the ragged the ends of the strudel. Slice 8-10 equal portions. Sprinkle generously with confectioner’s sugar and transfer to a serving tray.
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looks easy and gonna make it for fathers day
I am a novice baker and this was fun to make and tastes great!!
I am about to assemble my strudel. The directions do not say what to do with the bread crumbs except to put the cherry mixture on top of them.
So do I spread them on the horizontal strip of butter? And why do we use bread crumbs in this recipe when they end up on the top of the filling?
Hi Anne. Hopefully this response isn’t coming too late. It looks like there is an error in the steps listing butter instead of crumbs in step 7. Sorry, it must’ve gotten mixed up when I transferred the recipe to a new card. I’ll fix it. If you look at the 3rd process photo, you can see where the cherry filling is spread on top of the crumbs down the middle of the dough. Usually you will flip the strudel 2x so the crumbs end up on the bottom again. Even if they end up on top, they’ll still absorb extra juice.