Ingredients

• The Americanized version of strudel is most often a sweet pastry filled with apple or other fruit fillings. However, traditional German, Austrian and Bavarian cooks may fill the dough with savory meat and vegetables. Some of the fillings used to create heartier meal-like strudels do not freeze well, including cabbage, potatoes and sour cream. The texture of these ingredients changes upon freezing, rendering the dish mushy and watery. Stick to freezing unbaked fruit, nut, or meat strudels. Serve cabbage or sauerkraut pastries fresh out of the oven for best results.

Assembly

• Assemble the strudel as you normally would to bake the pastry right away. Fillings made from particularly juicy fruit, such as berries or apples may boil and bubble over when baked from a frozen state. Prevent this potentially messy situation by adding a small amount of flour or cornstarch to the fruit filling -- enough to let the juices thicken a bit but without making a paste. Fruit strudels are often topped with sugar to provide a crunchy texture. Leave off the sugar topping until you are ready to bake the strudel to prevent the top of the pastry from getting soggy.

Wrapping

• Unbaked strudel should be wrapped well to preserve the flavor while it's in the freezer. However, aluminum foil often sticks to the tacky strudel dough, especially when using commercially prepared phyllo dough as a shortcut. Flash-freeze the strudel before wrapping it. Place the pastry, still on the baking sheet or cutting board, in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the dough is firm. Then, take it out and seal the strudel in an airtight, zip-top bag or a piece of aluminum foil. Mark the package with today's date. Frozen strudel stays fresh in the freezer for up to two months.

Baking

• The beauty of a frozen, unbaked strudel is that no advance preparation is needed for baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, place the frozen pastry on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven. A fresh strudel usually bakes in 25 to 30 minutes; a frozen one will take a bit longer to become golden brown and heated through. Check for doneness after 40 minutes.