Fruit Dumplings Apricots Blueberries Plums Recipes

FRUIT DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Cream butter with sugar.
• Add eggs, stirring hard.
• Add cottage cheese and flour.
• Stir well and gradually add enough milk to make a soft dough.
• Roll out on floured board (not too thin), and cut in squares. Into each square put a blue plum, apricot or sweet cherries. Pinch corners together and roll into a ball.
• Boil dumplings in a large pot filled with rapidly boiling, salted water for 10-12 minutes.
• Serve with melted butter and a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

FRUIT DUMPLINGS (APRICOTS, BLUEBERRIES, PLUMS)

Steps:

• For the dough: push the cheese through a sieve into a mixing bowl. Add the butter, eggs and sugar and mix together well. Add the flour, semolina and milk in stages to form a soft, pliable dough. Tip it out of the bowl on to a lightly floured surface and knead it lightly. Roll into a long sausage shape about 6cm in diameter.
• For the filling: if you're using apricots, put a square of chocolate in the centre of each fruit to replace the stone and close the halves firmly together. If you have chosen plums, replace the stone with a lump of sugar and close the halves firmly together.
• Cut a slice of dough about 1 cm thick and put it on a well-floured board. Roll it out into a circle large enough to envelope the apricot or other fruit. Put an apricot or plum on the dough and bring it up around the fruit to enclose it completely. Seal the edges well and repeat with the remaining dough and fillings. If you are using blueberries, use 3-4 per dumpling with a sprinkling of sugar.
• Bring a large pan of slightly salted water to the boil and drop the dumplings into it, 3 or 4 at a time. Gently move them around the pan with a wooden spoon to ensure they don't stick to the bottom and cook them for 10-12 minutes; they are done when they rise to the surface.
• For the crumble: melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and fry gently until golden, then sprinkle in the sugar and stir well. Remove the pan from the heat and tip the crumble mixture into a warmed serving dish.
• Remove the dumplings as they cook, using a slotted spoon to let them drain. Roll them in the crumble mixture, and keep them warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining dumplings. Once they are all cooked and coated, serve them hot with the melted butter spooned over, and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

BAKED FRUIT DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 7x11 inch baking dish.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Cut in butter. Pour in milk and stir to form a dough. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and roll out. Cut into 6 - 6 inch squares.
• Place a whole apple in the center of each square. Fill the core with blueberries. Drizzle with maple syrup. Pull up corners of dough and pinch edges together to seal. Place dumplings in prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Combine remaining maple syrup with enough water to pour over dumplings to a 1 inch depth in dish. Submerge remaining blueberries and apple peelings with dried orange peel in liquid.
• Bake in preheated oven 45 minutes, basting as necessary, until crisp and browned. Serve warm with sauce.

POTATO PLUM DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Scrub potatoes, and place them into a large pot with enough water to cover. bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, and cool. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel, and press through a ricer into a large bowl. Set aside to cool. This part of the process can be done as much as one day in advance.
• In a large bowl, mix together the prepared potatoes, salt, egg, and 1 tablespoon of butter until well blended. Gradually stir in the farina, and then the flour. If dough is still wet, more flour can be mixed in. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Split open each plum where it cracks, and remove the pit. Replace each pit with a sugar cube, and close.
• On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into twelve 3 inch squares. Place one plum into each square, and bring the corners around to the top. Pinch together all of the seams to seal.
• Bring a large pot of water to a slow boil. Place about 4 dumplings into the water at a time. Once they float to the surface, continue to cook them for about 5 more minutes. Transfer cooked dumplings to a covered bowl, and keep warm.
• Melt the remaining 1/2 cup of butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir in bread crumbs, and 1/4 cup of sugar. Continue to cook and stir until browned. Remove the bread crumbs to a plate, and roll warm dumplings in the mixture until entirely coated. To serve, place a dumpling or two on a plate, sprinkle with a little sugar and a little extra melted butter, if desired.