German plum dumplings (Zwetschgenknödel)

Step 1

Put the butter in a jar with milk and melt in the microwave. You could also melt the butter on a stove. In the meantime combine flour, sugar, yeast, salt and eggs in a bowl. Start mixing, while adding the lukewarm milk - butter mixture slowly. Knead the dough very well until you see bubbles in the dough. This takes about 10 minutes.

Step 2

Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for 1 hour or until it has doubled its size in a warm place. In the meanwhile make the cream sauce, cinnamon sugar and buttered bread crumbs.

Step 3

In a bowl combine sour cream, vanilla sugar, heavy cream and plain yogurt and mix very well. Set aside.

Step 4

Melt half of butter/ margarine in a pan or skillet over medium low heat. Once margarine hast melted, stir in half of the breadcrumbs. Continue stirring until crumbs are golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to an empty plate. Do the same to the remaining margarine and bread crumbs.

Step 5

In a bowl/ plate combine sugar with cinnamon and mix well. The quantity of the plums that you'll be needing depend on the number of dumplings that you will be making.

Step 6

Wash the plums very well and let them dry. Take 12 plums and cut them just on one side lengthwise as shown on the photo below. The stones remain inside.

Step 7

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured silicone pastry mat or cutting board. Slightly flour the dough and rub it. Dust your hands very well. Using a dusted dough scraper or a dusted knife divide the dough in the middle and take a bit of the dough. (SEE NOTE 1 & 2)

Step 8

Take one dough part at a time, dust it with flour and flatten it with your hands. Take one of the plums that you previously prepared and put it in the center. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon cinnamon sugar. Fold the dumpling such that the plum is covered and then roll into a ball shape.

Step 9

Put the balls on a lightly floured cutting board. Don't forget to leave enough space between the rolls for them to expand. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 20 minutes.

Step 10

During this time you can boil the water and divide the buttered breadcrumbs among plates. Because if you only use one plate to coat in all the dumplings the breadcrumbs will loose their crispiness since the dumplings contain excess water on the outside after cooking.

Step 11

Meantime put water in a large pot and bring to a boil. After 20 minutes, dust your hands and pick up one dumpling at a time. Lightly shape it into a ball once again, if it has lost its shape.

Step 12

Put the dumpling in the pot with boiling water. Put three more dumplings in the pot. (You can make up to 4 dumplings at one time). Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. Turn the dumplings, cover and let cook for another 5 minutes.

Step 13

Using a spotted spoon or something similar remove the dumplings from the pot. Put each dumpling on a separate plate and coat with buttered breadcrumbs. Repeat the process until you have cooked all the dumplings. Serve with the creamy sauce that you've made previously and plum compote.