Germknödel (Steamed Yeast Dumplings)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot with steamer basket or bamboo steamer
• •Kitchen scale
• •Clean kitchen towels for covering dough
• •Parchment paper, cut into 8cm squares
• •Small saucepan for melting butter

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Warm the milk until it's just lukewarm, no hotter than your inner wrist can stand comfortably. Crumble the fresh yeast into the milk, add a pinch of the sugar, and stir gently until dissolved. Let it sit for five minutes. When it turns foamy and smells yeasty, it's alive and ready. In a large bowl, combine the flour, the rest of the sugar, the Vanillezucker, salt, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture, the melted butter, and the egg yolk. Stir with a wooden spoon until it comes together into a shaggy mass, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for eight to ten minutes. The dough should become smooth, soft, and just slightly tacky. It won't be stiff like bread dough. This is an enriched dough, closer to brioche, and it should feel alive under your hands.

   If using active dry yeast instead of fresh, use 7g. Dissolve it in the warm milk with the pinch of sugar and wait ten minutes for a strong foam. Fresh yeast gives a slightly better flavor, but dry yeast works well.
2. 2

   First rise and prepare filling

   Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and set it somewhere warm. Not hot, warm. The top of your oven while it's off, a sunny windowsill, next to (not on) a radiator. Let it rise for about one hour, until doubled in size. While you wait, prepare the filling. Measure out the Powidl and stir in the rum if you're using it. If your Powidl is loose or runny, cook it gently in a small pan for five minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to hold its shape on a spoon. Spoon six even portions onto a plate lined with cling film and put them in the freezer for fifteen minutes. Cold filling is much easier to wrap.

   Gretel always said yeast dough can't be hurried. If your kitchen is cold, the rise might take longer. That's fine. Wait for it. The dough will tell you when it's ready by doubling in size and feeling airy when you press it.
3. 3

   Shape and fill the dumplings

   Punch the risen dough down gently and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into six equal pieces. A kitchen scale helps here because evenly sized dumplings steam evenly. Take one piece and flatten it into a circle about ten centimeters across, thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. Place a portion of the chilled Powidl in the center. Now gather the edges up and over the filling, pinching them together firmly at the top. Roll the sealed dumpling gently between your palms to smooth out the seam. The seal has to hold. If it opens during steaming, the Powidl leaks out and you lose the moment at the table when the spoon breaks through and the jam comes flooding out. Set each dumpling seam-side down on a piece of lightly oiled parchment paper, about eight centimeters square.

   Thin the edges and keep the center thicker. This gives you enough dough at the edges to pinch a strong seal without leaving a thick, doughy lump at the top. Wet your fingertips lightly if the dough won't stick to itself.
4. 4

   Second rise

   Cover the shaped dumplings loosely with a kitchen towel and let them rest for fifteen to twenty minutes. They'll puff up slightly. This second rise is short but it matters. Without it, the dumplings will be dense instead of pillowy. The yeast needs one last push before the heat sets the structure. While the dumplings rest, bring a large pot of water to a simmer and prepare your steamer.

5. 5

   Steam the dumplings

   Place the dumplings on their parchment squares into your steamer basket, leaving at least three centimeters between them. They will swell dramatically during cooking. Set the basket over the pot of simmering water and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Steam for fifteen to eighteen minutes without lifting the lid. This is important. Every time you open the lid, you release the steam that's puffing the dough, and the dumplings can collapse. After fifteen minutes, check one by lifting the lid quickly. A done Germknödel is nearly twice its original size, with a dry, matte surface that springs back when you press it gently. If the surface still looks wet and sticky, give it two more minutes.

   If you don't have a steamer basket, a colander set over a pot and covered tightly with a lid or foil works. A bamboo steamer is ideal because the bamboo absorbs condensation that would otherwise drip onto the dumplings and make them soggy.
6. 6

   Prepare the topping

   While the dumplings steam, melt the 80g of butter in a small pan over low heat until it's completely liquid and hot. In a small bowl, mix the ground poppy seeds with the 40g of powdered sugar. This is the Mohnzucker. Set both within arm's reach of your serving plates. Everything needs to come together quickly once the dumplings are done.

7. 7

   Serve immediately

   Peel the parchment from the bottom of each dumpling and place one on each warm plate. Pour the melted butter generously over the top, letting it pool around the base. Spoon the Mohnzucker (poppy seed sugar) over the buttered surface so it sticks and coats the dumpling in a dark, fragrant layer. Dust with a little extra powdered sugar if you like. Bring it to the table whole. The person eating it gets to split it open with a spoon and discover the Powidl inside. That moment, when the dark jam oozes into the melted butter, is what this whole dish is about. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Powidl is not regular plum jam. It's a thick, concentrated plum paste with a deep, almost smoky sweetness. Look for it in Central European grocery shops or online. If you can't find Powidl, use the thickest, darkest plum butter you can source. Lekvar (Hungarian plum butter) is a good substitute. Thin jam will leak and make a mess. The filling must hold its shape.
• •Grind your own poppy seeds if you can. Buy whole blue poppy seeds and pulse them in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder until they're fine but still have texture. Pre-ground poppy seeds lose their fragrance within weeks. Freshly ground poppy seeds smell like almonds and wildflowers. Stale ones smell like nothing at all.
• •Don't skip the Vanillezucker. Austrian baking depends on it for a rounded, warm sweetness that vanilla extract can't quite replicate. You can make your own: bury two split vanilla pods in a jar of caster sugar and leave them for a week. That jar will last you through months of Mehlspeisen.
• •If you're making these for a crowd, you can shape and fill the dumplings, place them on their parchment squares on a baking tray, and freeze them solid. Once frozen, transfer to a bag. Steam from frozen, adding five extra minutes to the cooking time. They come out beautifully.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made, given its first rise, then punched down and refrigerated overnight. Bring it to room temperature for thirty minutes before shaping. Cold dough is easier to handle but needs time to warm up so the yeast finishes its work.
• •Shaped, filled dumplings freeze beautifully. Freeze on a tray until solid, then transfer to a bag. Steam directly from frozen, adding five minutes to the cooking time. This makes Germknödel a realistic weeknight option if you do the prep on the weekend.
• •Powidl keeps for months in the fridge. If you find a good source, buy extra.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)