It’s October 1, but the markets and grocery stores still have an abundance of plums and that sends many Hungarian cooks into their kitchen to make “Szilvas Gomboc” - Plum Dumplings. When Italians combine potatoes and flour the result is usually gnocchi - a savoury. Hungarians use a potato/flour dough to create a dessert. Mind you, in my experience, mealtime was not always “appetizer, main and dessert”. If the “main” was plum dumplings I’d just enjoy and be happy!
It’s only fair to say that if you are tempted to eat these, you can buy them frozen at Starsky’s. Boil them and roll them in a sugar breadcrumb mixture and enjoy. (Dumplings you’ve prepared at home can also be frozen and cooked later.)
I’m not inserting a “Jump To Recipe” link since you should read the following tips. Like most iconic dishes, there are tons of variations - most having to do with the quantities of potatoes and flour, and the ratio. I’ll mention a few less significant variations in Notes (at the end) .
Getting Ready
how many dumplings? - the yield on this recipe will depend on how large the plums are, on whether you put a whole or half plum inside the dumpling and the thickness of the dough you use to surround the plum. There’s no right or wrong. I prefer using half a plum in dough that is not overly thick. I get about 16 dumplings from this recipe (which means I used 8 plums cut in half.) Extra dough can be shaped into little pebbles that taste great when coated with sweet breadcrumbs.
plums - use fresh plums labelled Italian, German or prune plums. Ideal if they are the same size and smaller rather than larger. For this recipe, you’ll need 8-10 small-ish plums cut in half. Start by prepping 8 - consider the extra 2 as insurance in case you have more dough. If the plums are fairly large cut them into quarters - and that means even fewer plums are required.
potatoes - what kind - I’ve made these with both yellow-fleshed potatoes and russet potatoes and haven’t noticed a huge difference though some people swear by one or the other. Because you don’t want a wet dough, a case can be made for using the drier russet. Potatoes also stay drier if cooked in their skin and peeled after. Again… there are recipes that say “bah humbug” and claim success with any/all potatoes, peeled and boiled. PS as with gnocchi - many cooking veterans say it’s better to use old potatoes since “new” potatoes have a higher water content and thus take in more flour. And if you do peel and chunk potatoes for cooking do not “overcook” them - leaving them too wet and mushy.
potatoes - how many - you’re aiming for 900g of riced potatoes, so start with 2 pounds. Depending upon size, it’s hard to predict how many potatoes that will amount to. I cook them whole and unpeeled so I make sure they all are about the same size (and thus need the same cooking time).
potato/flour ratio - There are so many variations on this. The oldest recipes that great-grandmas used wouldn’t even specify amounts. They’d cook varying amounts of potatoes and keep adding flour a little at a time until the dough comes together and is no longer sticky. They say the less flour, the better. Use the following as a general rule - go for a 3 to 1 ratio. In this recipe, that’s 900 g of riced potatoes to 300 g of flour - and keep in mind the great-grandma rule about adding just enough flour.
potato ricer - ideal if it’s a good one that doesn't let little lumps of “non-riced” potato sneak through.
all-purpose flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon
Three steps you can do while the potatoes are boiling (20-30 minutes) or do them first, or even the day before.
prepare plums - who knows who has touched these so give them a rinse and dry them thoroughly; depending on the plum size, cut the plum in half and discard the pit; for very large plums you may cut them into quarters; for really small plums make a cut large enough to let you remove the pit
prepare breadcrumbs - 1 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, 5 TB unsalted butter, 1/4 c sugar; Melt the butter in a frying pan; add the breadcrumbs and stir/toast them lightly - best not to step away - this can burn quickly; near the end add the sugar; remove from heat and transfer to a dish to ensure the browning stops
prepare plum spices - mix 3 TB sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon; place about 1/4 tsp onto the cut side of each plum just before encasing it in the dough; if you are using small plums and have only made a cut large enough to remove the pit, add this to the inside
900 g potatoes
1 tsp salt
1 TB butter (soft)
1 egg
1 TB super fine or icing sugar
300 g all purpose flour
Weigh the potatoes, skin on. You’ll never get exactly 900 g so go with a bit more knowing that you’ll be peeling them after they’re cooked. Cook with skin on until done in a pot of slightly salted boiling water - this may take 20-30 minutes. They’re done when a slim knife slips easily in and out. Testing for doneness too often is not ideal since it lets moisture into the potato.
Drain the potatoes. They’ll be hot/very warm. Handle them as soon as you can. The potato skins will come off easily. Sometimes it helps to use a thin cotton tea towel. It’s almost like “drying” the potatoes - the skin comes off easily.
Rice the potatoes. No need to weigh them again unless you went overboard re how much you cooked. Place the riced potatoes in a large bowl spreading them out to cool a bit. Sprinkle them with the salt.
The butter should be super soft - and could even be melted (and cooled). Beat together the egg, butter and sugar. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and start mixing with a wooden spoon or your hands - which you’ll switch to anyway.
Have the flour handy and add it a little at a time until the dough comes together, is a bit silky and is no longer sticky. These videos - one and two - (in Hungarian) demo how the dough comes together. Note that certain aspects of the recipes demo’d are not the same as mine.
This dough continues to absorb flour so some people don’t bother kneading and rolling as mentioned below.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead a few times. You can either roll the dough out a bit and cut it into squares, or triangles, or tear off clumps to encase each piece of plum.
Whether you roll or grab a chunk of dough, press/flatten it to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Place the plum onto the dough and add about 1/4 tsp of the plum spice.
Pinch the edges together and form it into a ball, ensuring that the plum is totally encased. Pinch off a bit if you used too much dough or add pinches if necessary. Place the prepared dumplings on a lightly floured bake sheet to make it easier to pick them up.
Prep all the dumplings before cooking or start cooking when you have 4-5 ready (and keep prepping dumplings while those cook).
Bring lightly salted water to a gentle (not rolling) boil. Gently drop in 4-5 dumplings. They will fall to the bottom. Stir gently every few minutes to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom. After about 10 minutes they will rise to the surface. At that point cook them 3-5 minutes longer.
Have the prepared breadcrumbs next to you. Lift the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon or “spider”. I place them onto a linen dishcloth for a second to dab off the water. Then roll them in the breadcrumbs which easily stick to a warm, damp dumpling.
Serve warm dusted with sugar or icing sugar and extra breadcrumbs. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat to enjoy.
Notes and Tips...
Plums - use Italian, German or prune plums; Damson, if you ever see them, are quite small and thus keeping the plum whole would work - in this case, cut the plum enough to remove the pit and be sure to add the plum spice
Plums - Fresh or Frozen - I thought I was clever freezing plums to make these later. Not entirely a good idea. While thawing, all the liquid came out of the plums and what remained was a squishy mess. I did use them and added a 1/2 tsp of plum butter to the filling to rescue the flavour. It did work. BTW You can freeze the dumplings before you cook them. Spread them out on a pan In the freezer. Once frozen, place them into a freezer bag and freeze until needed. Frozen dumplings can be dropped into boiling water to cook and then roll in the prepared breadcrumbs.
Plum Jam - aka Plum Butter - another off-season way to make these is to use Plum Butter - a thick dark jam that you may not be familiar with. There are several brands, available at European Delis Use 1 - 1.5 tsp in each dumpling
Prunes - heard from a reader that her mother used to make these from prunes which she plumped up in hot water. I can see that working!!
Potatoes - warm or cold - online recipes vary in how much to cool potatoes - one woman says she cooks them the day before and uses them cold; The theory is that the warmer the potatoes the more flour they will absorb - and some say that too much flour wrecks the dough
Eggs - some use 2 instead of 1 egg; some use 2 yolks vs 1 egg
Ricers - these vary in design and price; best to get one with no crevices where “un-riced” potatoes can hide - you don’t want lumps of potatoes in the dough
Fat - this recipe adds a bit of butter to the dough; some add lard instead and some add no fat
Breadcrumbs - I have used regular or panko, but prefer regular.
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