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1
Combine the flour, warm water, egg, oil and salt in a bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is elastic and very smooth, with no surface tear when pulled. Wrap tightly and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it no longer springs back when pressed with a fingertip.
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2
Cover a large table with a clean cloth; dust it generously with flour. Place the rested dough at the centre. Using the backs of both hands — never the fingertips — work from the centre outward in long, even strokes, stretching the dough gradually over the cloth. Rotate around the table. Continue until the sheet is translucent: a sheet of newsprint held beneath it must be legible through the dough. This is where the dish lives or dies; commercial pastry cannot replicate what this translucency delivers.
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3
Leave the stretched dough to rest on the cloth for 5 minutes to dry slightly. Brush the entire surface with warm clarified butter; the dough should take on a faint sheen with no pooling.
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4
Drain the rum-plumped raisins on a cloth until no free moisture remains. Combine the sliced Renette apples, drained raisins, pine nuts, sugar and cinnamon. Distribute the filling evenly over two-thirds of the buttered dough, leaving a border of approximately 5 cm on all sides. The filling layer should be level and uniform to the eye.
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5
Fold the bare border of dough over the filling on all sides. Lift the near edge of the cloth and let it roll the strudel forward upon itself — the cloth does the work; hands do not touch the roll. Continue until the strudel is fully closed, seam side down. The log should feel taut but not burst at the seam when pressed lightly along its length.
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6
Transfer the strudel to a buttered baking tray, seam side down. Brush the surface with the remaining clarified butter. Bake in an oven preheated to 190 °C until the pastry is deep golden and the surface gives a dry, papery crackle when tapped with a fingernail.
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7
Remove from the oven and dust generously with icing sugar while still hot. Slice and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream (Schlagobers). The cut face should reveal distinct translucent pastry layers; the apple filling should hold its shape and not run.