Germans have given much to Texas, and the strudel pastry is one such food. In 2003, the Texas legislature declared the strudel and the sopaipilla to both be official state pastries (with the law expiring in 2005)!
 
“Strudel” means “whirlpool.” A “strudel” was on the Danube river, just outside of Vienna. The swirl in the strudel pastry was thought to look like the whirlpool.
 
   
Texas Legislature
H.C.R. No. 92
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Texas has customarily recognized a variety of official state symbols as tangible representations of the state’s historical and cultural heritage; and

WHEREAS, Among such icons are the rodeo, the state sport; the guitar, the state musical instrument; and chili, the state dish; and

WHEREAS, In keeping with this custom, the designation of the sopaipilla and strudel as the official State Pastries of Texas shall provide suitable recognition for these historic symbols of
the state’s cultural heritage, for the sopaipilla and strudel are some of the earliest pastries known to have been made in Texas; and

WHEREAS, The primary ingredient of the sopaipilla and strudel is wheat flour, the use of which in Texas can be traced as far back as 1682 in Ysleta, the oldest continuously occupied community in the state; located in present-day El Paso County, Ysleta is the site
of a mission established by Franciscan friars and Tigua Pueblo Indians; the Tigua planted, harvested, and ground wheat for use in meals that they prepared for the friars, and by the 1730s they were cultivating wheat for themselves; and
 
WHEREAS, Like the grain from which it is made, the wheat flour tortilla, too, can be traced to the El Paso area; it was produced there several hundred years ago by the Tigua, using lard from domesticated pigs, yet another item introduced in Texas by the Spaniards; the Tigua, who originally helped to raise pigs for the friars, had adopted the animals as a source for their own meals as early as the second quarter of the 18th century; and
 
WHEREAS, Generally made from a flour dough recipe, the sopaipilla was deep-fried in lard in earlier times and today is fried in healthier oils; it has been known by the Tigua of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo as “Indian fry bread” for well over a hundred years and is enjoyed by them on a variety of occasions; and
 
WHEREAS, Widely known throughout the great State of Texas and across the nation, the sopaipilla and strudel are served in restaurants and cooked at home, both from family recipes and from store-bought mixes; the sopaipilla may be topped with honey, cinnamon, or powdered sugar and may even be stuffed with beans, meat, or ice cream; and
 
WHEREAS, The sopaipilla and strudel stand out among Texas pastries because of their historic origins and universal appeal; embraced today by Texans of every ethnic background, the sopaipilla and strudel constitute a much-savored part of Texans’ shared cultural identity; now, therefore, be it
 
RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby designate the sopaipilla and the strudel as the official State Pastries of Texas until January 31, 2005.
     
(Oxford English Dictionary)
strudel
[a. Ger., lit. ‘eddy, whirlpool’.] 
A baked sweet of Austrian origin, made of very thin layers of pastry with a filling, usu. of fruit. Also used attrib. to denote the kind of dough or pastry used in such confections. apfelstrudel, apple strudel: see APPLE n. B. II.
1893 Encycl. Pract. Cookery II. 525/2 Strudels, a kind of pancake or fritter made in Germany. 1903 Jewish Encycl. IV. 257/2 The strudel, or single-layered jelly or fruit cake, takes the place of the pie for dessert.
     
An Itinerary
written by Fynes Moryson
London: Iohn Beale
1617
(Early English Books Online)
Pg. 21: 
The River hath foure great water fals, whereof the greatest is at Struddle, eighteene miles from Vienna, which is hardly to be passed, except it be in a floud.
 
Nuestes Universal, Oder: Grosses Wiener-Kochbuch
by Anna Dorn
Wien: Franz Zendler
1834 (There are earlier editions of Anna Dorn’s cookbook—e d.)
Pg. 148:  Krebsstrudel.
Pg. 149:  Strudel, mit Aepfel gefullt.
 
Die Wiener-Kochen Wie Sie Sena Soll
Thersia Ballauf, verebeligten Muck
Wien: Franz Zimmer
1834
Pg. 55:  Chocolate-Strudel.
Pg. 70:  Mandelstrudel.
 
Die Kochkunst, Oder: Nuestes Geprustes Unde Willstundiges Pesther Kochbuch
by Joseph Eggenberger
Pesth
1835
STRUDELN.
Apfelstrudel…237
Chocoladestrudel…238
Tyrolerstrudel…244
 
Die Burgerliche Kuche, Oder: Nueustres Osterreichisches Kochbuch
by Elizabeth Stockel
Wien: F. P. Sollinger
1840
Krebstrudel…167
Mandelstrudel…167
Topfenstrudel…168
Mohnstrudel…170
   
Allgemein Bewahrtes Wiener Kochbuch
by F. G. Zenfer
Wien: Carl Gerolb
1844
Pg. 234:  Aepfelstrudel.
 
Hungary in 1851;
With an Experience of the Austrian Police
by Charles Loring Brace
New York: Charles Scribner
1852
Pg. 134: 
There were soup, and Handel (young chickens), and Strudel (puddings) and formidable-looking pyramids of cakes, cut in singular shapes, and roast mutton with salad, and veal cutlets, with divers other dishes, unmentionable in English, or with names which I have forgotten.
 
Home-Life in Germany
by Charles Loring Brace
New York: Charles Scribner
1853
Pg. 334:
“But you must go to Vienna, if you would eat good bread! and such puddings!  The Strudel!  Have you those much in America, Herr B.?”
 
19 December 1874, Friends’ Intelligencer, pg. 685:
The main arm now descends in rapids called the Strudel (turbulent or gurgling waters), once considered very dangerous.
 
15 November 1899, Pictorial Review, pg. 35:
APPLE STRUDEL.
Two cups of flour, a dash of salt, water enough to make a light dough. Beat with hand twenty minutes. Place dough underneath a heated pot. Arrange a cloth on a table, put dough in center, sprinkle with flour, soften with melted butter, and pull dough as thin as possible. Have prepared one quart of apples, peeled and cut up, teaspoonful of grated cinnamon, one half of sugar, a quarter of a pound of chopped almonds, and a cup of raisins. Sprinkle over the dough, add a bit of melted butter. Roll cloth in a small package, put in oven, bake till brown, then cut in slices and dash with powdered sugar.