It doesn’t matter if you have a circle, oval or rectangle – strudel doesn’t
see shapes. Just beautiful dough. When the dough is stretched to
around 50 cm × 60 cm (19¾ in × 23½ in), trim the thicker half- centimetre
(¼ in) border with scissors and discard the scrap.

Scissors are best to trim the raw, un-buttered dough. Knives and pastry
wheels push the dough into the towel and cause sticking, which impedes
rolling. These are less problematic tools when the dough has been buttered.

Trimmings must be discarded. They don’t re-roll (or stretch) well.

The dough can rest in this state for around 30 minutes, but if you
need a longer pause, or the dough feels like it is getting dry and
crinkly, place a barely dampened tea towel (dish towel) on the top, or
lightly atomise with water. Don’t oversoak – it will weaken the dough
during rolling and the layers will fuse together.

Adaptrix
Sfogliatella dough
This is my non-traditional approach
to the very strong and stretchy
sfogliatella dough. To adapt this
dough for sfogliatella, just decrease
the water per batch to 65 g/ml
(2¼ oz).

Roll through a pasta machine as per
the sfog recipe (page 215).

Stretchy and savoury
Make a double batch of the original
recipe (not the drier sfog version)
and use as a handmade filo for a
spanakopita roll. Use extra-virgin
olive oil in place of the clarified
butter for Mediterranean feels.