80 g (2¾ oz) bakers’ (strong/
bread) flour
80 g (2¾ oz) plain (all-purpose)
flour
5 g (⅛ oz) caster (superfine)
sugar
2 g (¹⁄₁₆oz/¼ teaspoon) fine
sea salt
80 g/ml (2¾ oz) lukewarm water
15 g/ml (½ oz) extra-virgin
olive oil
small bowl of cornflour
(cornstarch), only for
stretching
Stretchy dough
Stretchy doughs, brushed betwixt with fat, were the precursor
to laminated doughs. The most famous is a strudel dough where
the classic instruction is that the stretched sheet should be thin
enough to read a love letter through. Total swoon, but who has
a love letter kicking around these days? A love text message?
A utility bill? Put modernly and without props, the strudel
sheet should be of the most delicate, gossamer thinness, like
tissue paper.

I go for the half bakers’/half plain flour approach, which will
bring tenacity and tenderness in equal measure. With a little
liquid adjustment, this dough can be used for Sfogliatella riccia
(page 215).

About strudel stretching: set up a stretching station on the edge
of your kitchen counter or a small table. Cover the area with
a tablecloth or old bed sheet so that you have a cloth-covered
surface 60 cm × 80 cm (23½ in × 31½ in). A grid of overlapping
kitchen towels is okay – they just won’t provide maximum
rolling support. If your station doesn’t allow access to all sides
of the dough to stretch, spin the cloth during the stretch so all
sides get equally thin. If you have a pastry pal, you can stretch
together standing opposite and creating balanced tension (and
a beautiful bond too!).

Weigh the flours, sugar and salt into a medium bowl. Weigh the water
and oil separately. Add the wet to the dry and mix with your fingers,
working the dough from shaggy to a dough that cleans the side of
the bowl.

Keeps Up to 4 days chilled,

or frozen for up to 3 months.

Makes A large sheet 45 cm × 60 cm

(17½ in × 23½ in).

Takes 15 minutes to mix and knead

the dough. A minimum 2 hour rest and
then around 30 minutes to stretch it.