Apricot-Pecan Butter Strudel

Recipe Instructions To prepare dough: Put butter in a medium saucepan and melt slowly over low heat. Do not let butter brown. Pour warm butter into a large bowl. Add ice cream and stir together until ice cream is melted. Mixture will look lumpy. Add flour and stir together until flour is incorporated and soft dough forms. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Chilled dough should feel firm to touch. To fill each strudel: Remove dough from refrigerator and divide it into 4 pieces. Roll 1 piece of dough between your hands into a small ball. Do this quickly so that dough does not soften. Press dough into a 1" thick disc. Lightly flour rolling surface and roll dough to 12 x 6" rectangle about 1/8" thick. Lift and turn dough several times as you roll it so it doesn't stick to rolling surface. the 12" side of dough should be facing you. Leaving 1/2" edge all around, spread 2 tb of apricot preserves evenly over dough. Sprinkle evenly with 1/3 cup raisins and 1/4 cup pecans. With long side still facing you, roll up strudel. Press edges and seam together to seal tightly. Repeat with 3 remaining pieces of dough. Each strudel strip can be wrapped separately in aluminum foil and frozen at this point for up to 3 months. Position oven rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 375F. Unwrap as many strudel strips as you want to bake. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil from frozen strudel. Place strudel, seam side down, on baking sheet. If baking more than one, place strips 2" apart. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, reversing baking sheet front to back after 25 minutes to ensure even browning. Strudel crust should look golden brown. Cool 10 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.