Czeched!: Fruit dumplings

When you say dumplings, the first thing that comes up your mind is those small rolls of meat wrapped in super thin dough, served dim-sum style-- that is, if you're Asian like me. Certainly dumplings in Asia aren't sweet and they are usually steamed, not boiled. Well, not in CZ. Here, dumplings can be sweet and yes, they are boiled-- and the filling is not of meat but of fruits.

They call it "ovocné knedlíky" or fruit dumplings. They usually make this in summer when the fruits are aplenty. That's exactly what I did after coming home with baskets of them from my in-laws' garden a few weekends ago. I used raspberries and strawberries for the filling.

OVOCNÉ KNEDLÍKY

Dough:

1/2 kg. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 sachet dry yeast ( 3/4 small fresh yeast)
a handful of crystal sugar
250 ml milk

- Mix everything with a wooden spoon. Add flour if too sticky. Let stand for 45 minutes.
- Knead and let stand for another 45 minutes.

Punch dough and knead for a few minutes. Flatten a small amount and put about 5 raspberries ( about 2 sliced big strawberries) in the middle. Sprinkle fruits with powdered sugar before wrapping them with the dough.

You can wrap them in a way that would make them look nicer than the ones in the pic above. I was just in a hurry to finish making them. Excuses, excuses. :)

Next step is to boil a pot half- full of water. Put dumplings in boiling water for 3 minutes then turn them over and boil for another 3 minutes.

Your dumplings are now ready for eating! For toppings, Czechs usually shred ginger cake and mix them with powdered sugar. Melted butter is almost always present in every meal, including this one. Yes my dears, this is considered a meal here, not a snack.

Me? I call it a snack. And since I'm just getting Czeched, I don't follow the usual way of eating it with shredded ginger cake. I usually eat it with cottage cheese. It's actually up to you what you want for toppings. Let me know if you come up with something really yummy.