Zwetschkenknödel - Plum dumplings

I have to admit that I use the instant potato mix for the dough quite often. But that doesn’t take away any of the flavor, at least I like to think so. My grandmother used to make these when I was a kid, then my mother took that up later. It usually involved industrial quantities and many hours of labor. My dad could eat a large bowl of them at a time. You can find these dumplings in virtually every cook book from Bavaria to the Balkans and back to Austria. Recipes will vary slightly in the use and amount of ingredients, but if the result is a hot, fluffy, sweet piece of goodness then you know you’ve done it right. The Zwetschke is a plum, also called Italian plum in the US. Here is a very nice recipe, in English, at delicious days, but it is not potato dough, which in my opinion is the only righteous one for these dumplings. And below is my Austrian version of them:

• 300g potatoes, the mealy kind
• 125g flour
• 12 Italian plums or Zwetschken
• 20 g butter or margerine
• 1 egg
• 12 Viennese sugar cubes, or about 30g of sugar
• 4-5 heaping tablespoons of plain breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• confectioner’s sugar for dusting
• teaspoon of cinnamon

Boil the potatoes in their skin. Poke them with the fork to see if they are soft, if they are, then they’re done. Cool the potatoes off with ice water until they are easy to handle. Peel them and mash them in a large bowl with either fork or whatever fancy tools you happen to have. Let them rest and cool off some more for a while. Sift the flour on top of the potatoes then add the butter, salt and egg and mix it all up to form a dough, again either by hand or fancy kitchen aid. The dough should not be too soft or sticky, it should have the consistency of bread dough.

Wash the plums and dry them thoughroughly. If you have guests you may choose to take the pit out and fill it with a sugar cube or one small teaspoon of sugar. If you are like me and would like the juices to stay sealed up in the plum and if your guests like surprises (and have good dental insurance) you will do no such thing. Either way, make a roll out of your dough and cut even pieces out of it. Flatten each piece and roll one plum inside it to make a dumpling. Make sure the dough around the plum is not too thick but also there should not be any “see through” or not covered spots. When all the dumplings are nicely formed, bring salt water to a boil. Drop dumplings in the boiling water one at a time. Do not overcrowd the pot, the dumplings should not be touching each other! Let them simmer for about 12 minutes, I don’t usually cover them. When the dumpling sort of floats on top then it is done. Take the dumplings out and let them drip on a paper towel covered platter.

Meanwhile, roast the breadcrumbs in a large shallow pan (could also be done in the oven) on low heat until they are nicely brown, the color of caramel. You can use butter or if you have a non-stick pan you can just do it without any grease. Just make sure to stir up the crumbs so they don’t stick or burn. If your plums don’t have any sugar inside them, then add a few tablespoons of sugar to the bread crumbs, depending on how sweet you want them to be. Add the teaspoon of cinnamon (or skip it if you don’t like cinnamon) to the crumbs and turn off the heat. Carefully roll each dumpling through the bread crum mixture and place in a bowl. Dust off with confectioner’s sugar and server hot, or at least room temperature. These babies are not good cold or chilled! Mahlzeit!