Hungarian Plum Dumplings recipe

The plum dumplings is a stuffed dumpling made of potatoes, flour and plums. It is a typical sweet pasta dish of traditional Hungarian cuisine. It is made from potatoes with high starch content, cooked in their skins and kneaded with flour. Small plums are placed in the center of the dough and cut into even squares. Eggs are also used in some recipes. The dumplings are usually boiled in water and served rolled in toasted breadcrumbs. The traditional plum dumplings are a memorable and must-try summer dish. This, in my opinion, cannot be produced in sufficient quantities.
The history of the Hungarian plum dumplings
People fed on dried pasta during the Middle Ages’ mass migrations. This is also how pasta-making arrived in Europe, which spread widely during the Renaissance era but remained a privilege of aristocratic kitchens for a long time. People could only preserve pasta by drying at the time. This did not allow for the storage of filled pasta for a longer period of time, but Hungarian households learned later from Austrian examples. Home-made pasta spread to Hungarian family tables following Austrian kitchens, which provided a lot of inspiration and examples. The plum dumplings filled with fruit and other Hungarian dough dumplings are derived from traditional Austrian gastronomy, where these dumplings are known as Knödel. In German, plum dumplings are known as “Zwetschgenknödel”. “Powidlknödel” is a plum jam dumpling.
Interesting feature: plum dumpling cake
Since 2007, the Hungarian Confectionery Industry’s National Industry Board has chosen the National Cake of the year for Hungary‘s birthday on August 20. The entries must be related to the national holiday in some way and must definitely reflect Hungarian taste. In 2010, the winner was Sulyán Cukrászda‘s (Confectionery) Szilvásgombóc cake from Veresegyháza. The winning cake’s main flavors are plums, chocolate, and marzipan, and it is time-consuming to prepare – it can take up to two days – so it is more likely to be in the hands of confectioners than housewives. Every year, after with Hungary’s birthday, those interested in Hungarian cuisine can find the winner cakes in hundreds of pastry shops almost anywhere in the country.
The National cake of the year in 2010: Plum dumplings cake by Sulyan Confectionery
Tips for making plum dumplings
– If the plums are large, we only use half of them on the dough square, and if they are fully ripe, we can substitute 1 peeled almond or walnut for the seed
– It can also be made with frozen plums: thaw them at room temperature, remove the seeds, drain carefully, and sprinkle 2-3 pinches of breadcrumbs on the dough (this absorbs some of the plum juice)
– We can make a larger batch at once because it tolerates freezing well: the raw dumplings are placed on a tray spread on a tea towel sprinkled with flour, and placed uncovered in the freezer’s quick-freezing compartment, then sealed in plastic bags after 2 hours. When cooking, place it in boiling water while it is still frozen, then proceed as usual.
Ingredients:
- 20 plums
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 2 tsp of cinnamon
- 3 tbsp of lard or oil
- 200 g breadcrumbs
- 1 kg peeled potatoes
- 300 g plain flour
- 1 egg
- salt
Steps:
- Wash plums and cut them into halves. Remove the seeds.
- Mix powdered sugar and cinnamon, and stick plum halves with 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of lard and fry the breadcrumbs until golden brown. Then mix with 2 tsp cinnamon sugar. Also set aside.
- Dice potatoes and boil in salted water until soft. Drain, mash finely and let cool.
- Knead a soft, homogeneous dough from potatoes, flour, egg, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp lard. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the dough into a 20×16 cm rectangle. Cut into 10×10 cm squares. Fill each dough square with plums: Place plums in the centre of the dough and fold up the corners. Pinch edges and form nice balls.
- Place dumplings in boiling water and cook until they come to the top.
- Remove the dumplings and coat them with sweet breadcrumbs.
- Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and enjoy!
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