Marillenknödel (Apricot Dumplings)
I have tried this dessert for the first time when I was in Vienna and I fell in love! The only difference was that back then these divine dumplings were filled with apricot jam instead of fresh apricots since it was winter.
There are so many variations of Marillenknödel (Marillen is a regional German word for apricots and Knödel= dumplings). The dough can be made with potatoes, just like plum dumplings or it can be made with quark (German cottage cheese), which I simply love!
If you serve them with a delicious vanilla sauce like I did, you will instantly fall in love! Find a reel with the method here.
- 50 g semolina
- 80 g flour (have 100g flour prepared, you might need to add a little bit more depending on your cottage cheese)
- 250 g creamy cottage cheese (I have used the German Quark)
- 2 tbsp sugar (add more as per your taste, I don't eat sweet)
- 30 g butter (soft)
- 1 Pcs egg (yolk)
- 6 Pcs apricots
- 0.5 tsp vanilla paste
- 100 ml milk
- 100 ml cream
- 1 Pcs egg yolk
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 50 g breadcrumbs
- 30 g butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 50 g finely chopped walnuts
- 0.5 tsp cinnamon
- Prepare the breadcrumbs
In a pan, add 30g of the butter, let it melt and then add the breadcrumbs. Cook until golden brown and then add 2 tablespoons of sugar at the end. Cook for 1 more minute to slightly caramelize the sugar and set aside. If you want, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon at this point. Set aside.
- Making the vanilla sauce
In a pot, add the milk and cream and heat until it starts steaming but not boiling. In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolk with a whisker together with the sugar and cornstarch until pale and fluffy. Add the hot cream an milk gradually to the egg yolk mixture and mix well with a whisker to prevent lumps. Retun everything on the stove and cook until slightly thickened. Cover and set aside.
- Preparing the dough
In a bowl, mix the quark (cottage cheese), together with the vanilla paste, egg yolk, 2 tablespoons of sugar, semolina, 30g of soft butter and theflour until you get a soft dough. The dough will be sticky but that is fine. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and flatten it by dusting flour on it so that it will not stick. Flatten it into a rectangle, then cut with the knife 6 (almost) equal pieces.
Remove the seeds from the apricots and do not cut them in half completely. Cut enough just to remove the seed and hold them together. Take each piece of apricot and wrap it with the dough, making sure it is completely sealed. Form the dumpling by hand them place it on a surface or a plate dusted with flour.
Repeat the stepts for all the 6 dumplings and place them in a pot with hot boiling water which is slowly simmering and boil the dumplings 5 more minutes after they come up to the surface to ensure they are cooked through.