Zwetschkenknödel (Fresh Plum Dumplings)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Potato ricer (essential, not optional)
• •Large pot for boiling (6-liter minimum)
• •Wide pan for breadcrumbs (28cm)
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil and rice the potatoes

   Place the potatoes, unpeeled, in a large pot of salted cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until a knife slides through without resistance, about 25 to 30 minutes depending on size. Drain them and peel while they're still hot. Use a towel to hold them if you need to. Press the hot potatoes through a potato ricer onto a clean work surface and spread them out to cool. You want them warm, not hot, when you make the dough. If you mash them instead of ricing, you'll get lumps, and lumpy dough tears when you try to wrap the plums.

   Use floury potatoes, not waxy ones. In Austria we call them Mehlige Kartoffeln. They break down into a dry, fluffy mass that binds into smooth dough. Waxy potatoes hold too much water and your dough will be sticky and heavy.
2. 2

   Make the potato dough

   Once the riced potatoes have cooled to warm, make a well in the center. Add the flour, egg yolks, melted butter, salt, and a grating of nutmeg. Work everything together with your hands until you have a smooth, soft dough. This takes just a few minutes. Don't knead it the way you'd knead bread. You're not developing gluten here, you're just bringing it together. The dough should feel pliable and slightly tacky but not stick to your hands. If it's too wet, dust in a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time.

   The amount of flour you need depends on your potatoes. A drier potato takes less flour. Start with 200 grams and add more only if the dough won't hold together. Too much flour makes the Knödel dense and gummy instead of tender.
3. 3

   Prepare the plums

   Wash the Zwetschken and dry them. Make a small slit along the natural seam of each plum and carefully remove the stone with a twist of your thumb, keeping the fruit as whole as possible. Tuck a sugar cube inside where the stone was. The sugar melts during cooking and mingles with the plum juice to create a pocket of warm, syrupy fruit inside the dough. Close the plum around it gently.

   Choose plums that are ripe but still firm. If they're soft enough to squish between your fingers, they'll collapse in the boiling water and leak juice through the dough. You want them to hold their shape and give just slightly when pressed.
4. 4

   Wrap the dumplings

   Flour your work surface generously. Roll the dough out to about half a centimeter thick. Cut it into squares large enough to wrap around each plum, roughly 10 by 10 centimeters. Place a prepared plum in the center of each square. Lift the edges of the dough up and around the plum, pinching the seams together at the top. Roll each one gently between your floured palms until it's a smooth ball with no cracks or thin spots. The dough layer should be even all around. If you can see plum skin through the dough, it's too thin and will burst.

   If the dough cracks or feels stiff, your potatoes were too cold when you made it. Warm your hands under hot water, dry them, and try again. Body heat helps the dough soften.
5. 5

   Boil the Knödel

   Bring a very large pot of lightly salted water to a gentle boil. Lower the Knödel in carefully, working in batches if needed so they aren't crowded. They'll sink to the bottom. Don't panic and don't poke them. After a few minutes they'll float to the surface on their own. Once they float, cook for another 12 to 15 minutes at a gentle simmer. Not a rolling boil. If the water is too aggressive it will shake the dumplings apart. A lazy bubble every second or two is what you want.

   Test one Knödel by cutting it open after 12 minutes. The dough should be cooked through with no raw, grey look in the center, and the plum should be soft and juicy. If the dough still looks dense and wet near the fruit, give them another two or three minutes.
6. 6

   Toast the cinnamon breadcrumbs

   While the Knödel cook, melt the 120 grams of butter in a wide pan over medium heat. When it foams, add the breadcrumbs. Stir constantly. This is the step where people get distracted and burn them, and burnt breadcrumbs taste bitter and ruin everything. Toast them slowly, stirring and turning, until they're evenly golden and the kitchen smells like butter and toasted bread, about five to six minutes. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon while the crumbs are still warm so it all melts together into a fragrant, sandy coating.

7. 7

   Roll and serve

   Lift the cooked Knödel out of the water with a slotted spoon and let them drain for a moment. Drop them straight into the pan of warm cinnamon breadcrumbs and roll them until they're coated on all sides. The crumbs should cling to the damp surface of the dough in a generous, uneven layer. Pile them onto a warm plate, dust with powdered sugar, and bring them to the table immediately. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •The plums must be Zwetschken, the small, oval Italian prune plums with dark blue-purple skin. Regular round plums are too juicy and too large. They'll make the dough soggy and the Knödel will be the size of tennis balls. If you can't find Zwetschken, small firm apricots (Marillen) work beautifully with the same dough and the same sugar cube trick.
• •Make the dough while the potatoes are still warm. Cold potato dough cracks and fights you. Warm potato dough is pliable, smooth, and wraps around the fruit without tearing. This is the single most important thing to get right.
• •Austrians eat Zwetschkenknödel as a main course, not a dessert. A plate of four or five with a generous heap of cinnamon breadcrumbs is a proper dinner in late summer. Serve them alone. They don't need a side dish, a salad, or anything else competing for your attention.
• •If you have leftover breadcrumbs (you probably won't, but if you do), they keep in a sealed jar for a week. Reheat them in a little butter before using. Cold breadcrumbs don't cling properly.

Advance Preparation

• •The potato dough can be made up to two hours ahead and kept covered with a tea towel at room temperature. Don't refrigerate it or it will stiffen and crack.
• •The cinnamon breadcrumbs can be toasted a day ahead and stored in a sealed container. Reheat gently in a little butter before rolling the Knödel.
• •Wrapped but uncooked Knödel can sit on a floured tray for up to an hour before boiling. Don't let them sit longer or the moisture from the plums will soften the dough and they'll stick to the tray.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 500g)