Germknödel

A few words about what you will need. First of all, you will need a pot with a lid. The pot should be large and tall enough as dumplings will double in size in all directions during boiling and you don’t want a lid to press the dumplings.

Or cook using a steamer – batter the rack and cook for 15-20 without turning over.

Plum jam should be quite thick so that the dough won’t get wet.

You may add less milk – 80 ml per 250 g flour – for your dumplings to be less tender but denser and more bread-like.

Cook dumplings directly before serving as they are not supposed to be kept. You may keep them in a steamer or a warm oven above a baking pan of hot water, but for a short while.

So, first sieve flour into a bowl, add instant yeast, salt, sugar, lemon zest and stor. Add the egg, yolk, milk and stir again. Transfer to a board and knead for 1-2 min, then knead in the softened butter. The dough is supposed to be very soft, so try not to add more flour while kneading.

Form a ball, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for 1-1.5 h. The dough will become two or three times bigger in size.

Divide the dough into 8 or fewer parts depending on the size you want your dumpling to be.

Shape each part into a ball, slightly flatten to form dumplings (1.5 cm thick for medium-sized dumplings, or thicker for bigger ones). Flatten and wet the edges – you want the dough to be or equal thickness after you added the jam and brought the sides up.

Place a heapless teaspoon of plum jam into the center. Bring up the sides of the dough around the plum jam and seal by pinching the edges. Place the dumplings onto a board apart from each other, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 min.

Melt the butter. In a separate bowl, mix fry poppy seeds with powdered sugar.

Pour some water in a pot so that it half covers your dumplings. Add some salt, milk and rum and bring to a boil. As soon as the water boils, add one or a few dumplings sealed side up apart from each other (mind that they will double in size in all directions!), reduce heat to minimum, cover with a lid and cook for 7-10 min. There should be no rolling boil. Turn the dumpling over and cook for another 4-5 min. Take out with a sotted spoon and poke a few holes with a fork or a toothpick so that the dumplings won’t lose their shape.

How to serve:

Place on a plate and pour melted butter over the top. Sprinkle with poppy seeds and powdered sugar. Serve warm immediately.

How to keep:

The cooked dumplings may be kept in a warm oven above a baking pan of hot water before serving (not for a long).

You can also freeze shaped dumplings: flour them right after you shaped them, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Frozen dumplings can be kept for up to 3 months.

One day before cooking, take them out to defrost on the bottom rack of the fridge. Then remove the wrap, loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow them to sit on a counter at room temperature until they warm up to room temperature and rise. Then cook as explained above.