Cindy, like we mention in the blog here, thorough kneading is crucial to the development of the gluten and therefore the stretchability of the dough. If you attempt to knead it by hand, know it's an ambitious undertaking: it will probably require about 20 minutes of vigorous kneading. (You can see if you've kneaded for long enough by trying to "pull a window," a.k.a. stretch the dough thin enough so that you can see through it without it tearing.) If you don't consider yourself a strong, experienced kneader than you might want to invite yourself over to a friend's house who has a stand mixer for a strudel-making party! Kye@KAF

• Reply