Knodel
So, in Austria, these fruit dumplings are not technically a dessert. Served for lunch, people will sprinkle them with as much or as little sugar as they like and down up to 6 to 7 of them at once. But I like mine with LOTS Of sugar, so I keep them in the Dessert bin in my head.
This recipe comes from Eric's Austrian host mother, Christine, who kindly showed us the ropes.
This recipe comes from Eric's Austrian host mother, Christine, who kindly showed us the ropes.
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6-7 small stone fruit (pluot size or smaller)
1 c plain breadcrumbs 1-2 tsp sugar (or to taste) 6 oz farmer's cheese 100 g semolina flour 1 egg 2 (or a bit more) tbsp butter, melted All-purpose flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking |
Whisk the farmer's cheese, semolina flour, egg and melted butter together until they come together to form a sticky shaggy dough. You can use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer. Let the dough stand for an hour uncovered.
Meanwhile, toast the breadcrumbs with sugar in a little melted butter until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Clean and dry the fruit. Set a few pots of water to boil. You'll want deep wide pots, so that each knodel will have room to "dance about" as it cooks. When the dough is ready, take a piece of fruit and wrap it bit by bit in a coating of dough at least 0.25" thick. Any thinner, we've found, and the dough breaks while cooking. Dust the knodel in all purpose flour to make it not sticky and set aside. Repeat until all fruit has been enrobed. If desired, you can freeze the knodel for later; freeze individually on a plate, then wrap well for long term storage. Cook knodel in boiling water for about 20 minutes. Do not put too many knodel in a single pot; they should not be crowded, and the knodel should have room to move about gently. If boiling from frozen, add 5-10 minutes to the cooking time. When the dumplings float, cook for an additional 5 minutes or so. Remove the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon to let the water drain, then roll in breadcrumbs. Serve warm with sugar on the side. To eat, split each knodel down the middle and remove the pit of the fruit. Sprinkle with sugar to taste. |
Lots o' Notes:
- Use small stone fruits for this recipe; larger fruit is harder to surround with an adequately thick coating of dough, and will explode when boiled. We like pluots or small apricots. Ideally, the covered fruit should be small enough to mostly encompass in your hands. Say, golf ball sized?
- Farmer's cheese is the first key to getting the dough to the right consistency. Farmer's cheese is a fresh cheese usually found in the refrigerated cheese section. Ask you grocer to help you find it. You might have to go to a specialty or higher end store; for example, Safeway out here in California rarely has farmer's cheese, Whole Foods is hit or miss, but Draeger's has it pretty reliably, as does New Leaf Market in Half Moon Bay. Do not substitute cream, mozzarella or ricotta.
- Semolina flour is the second key to the right dough. This flour has a higher protein content even than bread flour, and is usually used to make pasta. You can find it amongst the Bob's Red Mill products in most stores.