In the homeland of heavy and meaty hot soups, these tasty starters are often followed by dessert-like main courses: sweet dumplings. Here, I would like to share two dumpling recipes with you: Cottage cheese dumplings and Plum dumplings. They are easy to find in Hungary, and even easier to make. A great combination of sweet and sour, everybody’s favorite!
Cottage Cheese Dumplings
It may sound strange, but when you taste this delicious dumpling you will love it! Just prepare enough to feed all the kids around you.
Ingredients:
50 dkg dry cottage cheese/curd cheese (if it is too wet, put it in a tea towel in a strainer, and let it drain for a night)
3 eggs
2 dl semolina
2 tsp oil
10 dkg breadcrumbs
salt
powder sugar
sour cream
Preparation:
To make the dough, mash the cottage cheese/curd cheese with a fork and blend in the eggs and semolina. Add a pinch of salt as well, let it stand still for about 3-4 hours, until the semolina swells.
Form golf-sized balls of the dough and cook them for about 5 minutes in salty boiling water. When it floats to the surface of the water it should be ready, but take one out, cut it in half, and when the semolina is cooked then it is ready.
Toast the breadcrumbs in the oil until it is brown, and roll the dumplings into the breadcrumbs.
You can mix the sour cream with the powder sugar, and pour it over the cottage cheese dumplings.
Tip: To make the dumplings lighter you can also add the egg yolk separately, and whip the egg whites before adding them to the cottage cheese.
Plum Dumplings
The dough of our plum dumpling is similar to gnocchi, and can be filled with plum or apricot, or even with any kind of jam. You can also keep the dumplings in a freezer for several weeks.
Ingredients:
1 kg potatoes
1 egg
all purpose flour
20 pieces of plum (can be frozen or from a can or or syrup at wintertime)
powder sugar
ground cinnamon
15 dkg breadcrumbs
1 tbs oil
pinch of salt
Preparation:
Cook the potatoes in salted water, peel them, then mash them with a fork or force them through a ricer. Let them totally cool down.
Add the egg to the potato and stir in a pinch of salt and the flour until the dough forms. Knead on a floured surface until the dough is soft. If needed, stir in more flour, but not too much, the dough is tastier when more potato and less flour is added. Then roll out the dough (or just the half of it first) around 5-6 millimeters thick, and cut out squares that are approximately 8*8 centimeters.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Take the seed out of the plum and fill the inside of the plum with a mixture of powder sugar and cinnamon. Then place one plum inside each square of dough and fold the dough, around the plum, gently form into a ball, roll in your hands until it is smooth. When all balls are ready, put them into the boiling water and cook until dough is firm, about 10-12 minutes.
Toast the breadcrumbs in the oil until it is brown, and roll the plum dumplings into it. (This can be done even a day before)
Serve it with ground cinnamon and powder sugar.
Tip: You can also mix the powder sugar with the cooled breadcrumbs, and roll the balls in this mixture.
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