Page 61 - Pie It Forward: Pies, Tarts, Tortes, Galettes, and Other Pastries Reinvented

3
. Stretch the dough. For any strudel dough recipe, the stretch is
exactly the same: Clear your kitchen or dining-room table and

cover it with a very large, clean, cotton tablecloth. Sprinkle the
tablecloth with an even layer of flour. Take off any jewelry you wear
on your hands—rings, watches, or bracelets, anything at all that
might tug at the dough while you are working on it. Even better,
make sure your fingernails are very short and well trimmed.

4
. Place the dough on the tablecloth, in the very center of the table.
Gently rub a heavy rolling pin with oil and roll the dough into a
rectangle approximately 2 feet by 1 foot (61 by 30.5 cm). Make
sure that the dough isn’t sticking to the cloth.

5
. Start stretching by gently tugging on the ends of the dough. (See
images A and B.) Try as hard as you can not to tear the dough. If

you end up with a few nicks and tears, it’s not the end of the world,
but it’s best if you pull with the intent of creating one glorious piece
of ludicrously thin dough without blemish. Once you have doubled
the original size of the rectangle, gently put your hands under the
dough, palms up, and stretch it using a hand-over-hand motion.
(See image C.) Continue in this way, aiming to create an even

thinness over the entire dough sheet. The very edges can remain a
little thick; that way you have something to hold on to when you pull
(and you’ll end up trimming the edges anyway).

For the finish

1
. Once the dough, in its entirety, is thin enough to read through,
you’ve reached the perfect stretch. My dining-room table is the
ideal size—68 by 32 inches (1.72 m by 81 cm)—the dough fits on it
entirely and sometimes drapes over a bit.

2
. Work quickly at this point to complete the pastry of your choice,
because the dough will dry out. Once the dough is stretched, I take
a scissor or a very sharp knife and cut the thicker edges off the