Ingredients
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2 cups lukewarm milk
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2 tsp active dry yeast
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1 tsp granulated sugar
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7 1/2 cups coarse flour (hruba mouka)
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1 egg
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pinch of salt
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2 cups blueberries
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1/4 cup Sugar
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melted butter
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powdered sugar
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farmer’s cheese
Directions
These fruit dumplings can be served as a main course or a dessert. But don’t confuse them with the other kind of dumplings—the ones that accompany Czech meat dishes. The truth is, everyone makes this sweet dish a bit differently.
The first space for variety is the dough itself. This can be a typical yeast dough made with flour, milk, eggs, yeast, sugar, and a pinch of salt, or dough made from the very Czech ingredient that doesn’t have its real equivalent in Western cuisines (although could be translated as a type of curd cheese) tvaroh.
The fillings also vary greatly, from plums and strawberries to apricots, cherries, or blueberries. The mixture of fruit and sugar goes into small pouches made from the prepared dough and the dumplings are then boiled in water. The toppings also vary a great deal. People usually pour melted butter on top, together with sugar, roasted breadcrumbs, grated tvaroh, cinnamon, poppy seeds, or even whipped cream.
Preparation:
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Heat the milk. It must be lukewarm only, not hot. Stir in a spoon of sugar, add the yeast and mix. Let it to leaven for 15 minutes in a warm place.
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Put the flour, eggs, a pinch of salt, and the yeast starter in a large bowl.
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Mix with a fork first, then knead it with your hands for 5-10 minutes.
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Put a pot filled with hot water in the bottom of the oven. Place the dough in the oven, on the middle rack. Close the oven and let the dough leaven in a humid and warm environment for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, using a spoon, mix the blueberries (or any fruit of choice: apricots, plums, cherries) with sugar.
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Make two rolls out of the dough and cut each into evenly sized pieces.
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Take each piece and roll out into a circle. Place the fruit in the middle. Close the knedlík and roll it between your hands until it has a regular round shape.
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Boil the fruit dumplings at a low temperature for 8 minutes.
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After taking them out of the pot, pierce each dumpling with a fork so the steam gets out.
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Sprinkle with farmers’ cheese and icing sugar, and pour melted butter over them.
