Monday, February 21, 2011

Austrian Apricot Dumplings (Marillenknodel)


I am attracted by the unusual - something a little different from the norm that strikes my fancy.  Recently in my pilates class, one of the girls was talking about her in-laws making dumplings with fresh apricots, sugar cubes, potato dough and breadcrumbs.  I immediately knew I wanted to make these dumplings, so off I went to Google to do a search, and found this recipe for Austrian apricot dumplings. I only made a half batch for the purposes of this experiment.

Making these dumplings is a really cool process, and I have never seen anything like it before.  First, you slice open an apricot 2/3 of the way round and remove the stone, then replace it with a sugar cube:  

 

In the meantime, you boil up some potatoes, mash them well, and make a dough with the mashed potato.  (I had to use a lot more flour than suggested to get a dough that I could work with.) You then wrap the dough around the apricots to form balls:





I only managed three dumplings out of my half batch of dough.  Oh well.

You then boil these rather large balls for 10 minutes in salted water, then let them drain on paper towels before sprinkling them with fried breadcrumbs and sugar.

During the boiling process, the sugar cube in the centre of the apricots melts, so that the dumpling is savoury on the outside and sweet in the middle.
These were definitely different.  I enjoyed them for a change (though I can only manage one at a time - they are huge), but now that I have satisfied  my curiosity, I probably wouldn't make them again other than as part of an Austrian themed dinner.
Have a great week.


14 comments:

Flourchild said...

How fun! I have never heard of Dumplings with fruit in them! They remind me of those russian dolls, opeing the next one to see what's inside!

Gloria Baker said...

Cakelaws these apricots treats look delicious! You know I love apricots always!! x gloria

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

My friend made these for me and I think that they were quite nice but they really didn't set my tastebuds on fire :)

Conor @ Hold the Beef said...

Mmmm, I made something similar last year for the Dumplings IIP and they were a damn good winter treat! Obviously didn't have any fresh stone fruit then though, so am keen to retry them like this.

So, when are you throwing an Austrian themed dinner? ;)

Anonymous said...

Those are unusual! I wonder if an apricot sauce would be good on the side or drizzled on top. Great post!

Johanna GGG said...

Wow these sound amazing and so novel - I want to make them too just for the opportunity to taste them because I can hardly imagine it - although I am sure it is very good

Anonymous said...

Very interesting recipe. Love it!

Ivy said...

I've never had dumplings before but it sounds very interesting.

The Caked Crusader said...

Anything ending with "knodel" is ALWAYS good news! These look great. I've had exactly this kind of thing but with plums before.

The Blonde Duck said...

I just like the name. :)

Elaine said...

I have never heard of these either. They look so good, but I can understand eating just one since they have a whole apricot in them. It's so interesting that they are wrapped in mashed potato!

Walnuts and Honey said...

These look fantastic. and so interesting to make, would be a great treat for dinner parties i bet, in addition you have made them look pretty epic with the crumbly topping. Grand!

Anonymous said...

They look really neat! I'm always happy that I've tried something different, even if it's not something I'd want to eat again anytime soon.

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