Peach Walnut Strudel Recipe

Just the other day I thought, man, I wish that I could roll into my local coffee shop and get a piece of really excellent strudel. It might sound odd, but thinking about sweets and which ones I might be neglecting is essentially my life. Plus, light and flakey layers of dough, sweet fruit filling, a light shower of powdered sugar—who doesn't want more of that in their lives?

Alas, not only do I rarely see strudel at the bakery much less the coffee shop, but I'm too busy or lazy to make traditional strudel dough at home. That's not to say that store-bought puff pastry makes a bad version, especially in the summer when the filling is made from extra sweet fruit.

What I'm trying to say is that this is a shortcut strudel, but a treat nonetheless. The filling is a mix of sliced peaches, sugar, lemon juice, and walnuts. The walnuts give the strudel some body so that when you put your fork through and go in for a bite, you get crisp dough layers, then soft peaches, then meaty walnuts.

When we get a little later in the summer, I'll swap the peaches for plums and add a touch of cinnamon. And if anyone knows where to get excellent strudel in San Francisco, give me a holler.

Note: To get your peaches into the thinnest possible slices, use a sharp knife and slightly firmer peaches. (The sugar will make up for them being less than perfectly ripe).