This is another post that is long overdue... I'm finding it hard to keep up at the moment! Spring not only brings great food, somehow the whole world seems to wake up and after having been stuck at home during the winter, all if a sudden you've got more social engagements than you can actually handle. Well, at least that's what seems to happen to me. Time to be a little selfish now and catch up on some posting before I whizz off to New York at the end of the week!
We had a sweet little soirée at a friend's house a few weeks back, where we spoilt an interesting crowd of people with traditional Austrian food. Martina made some great spreads which we nibbled with a glass of Prosecco in hand while waiting for a German-Mexican couple arriving from Frankfurt and getting completely lost in the jungle that is Greater London.
Next up was our Schweinsbraten cook-off: a bit like that "Ready, steady, cook" show on television - with our children judging who does the best roast pork - although we refused to be judged, calling it a "friendly", rather than a cooking competition.
For dessert, I decided to make some curd dumplings in three variations - struggling a bit with the fact that even though you can buy curd here, the consistency is very different... much wetter than anything I would buy in Austria. But we managed, adding loads of semolina until we achieved a dough that was managable.
The three variations were plain dumplings rolled in poppy seeds, plain dumplings rolled in toasted almonds and an apple & cinnamon version rolled in toasted pecans, all served on Martina's delicious gingered rhubarb & strawberry compote Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take notes for the latter, but I shall try and make one myself very soon, so stay tuned!
Threesome of curd dumplings on rhubarb & strawberry compote (Topfennockerl)*
(serves 4)
300 g Topfen (curd)** (use the virtually fat-free version, if you have a choice)
10 g icing sugar
10 g vanilla sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
60 g semolina
1 generous pinch cinnamon
1 small apple
For the coatings:
5 tbsp ground poppy seeds
5 tbsp ground almonds
5 tbsp ground pecans
6 tbsp icing sugar
First, make the plain dumpling dough which will serve for all three variations. Combine the curd, sugars, egg and yolk in a mixing bowl. Gradually incorporate the semolina - depending on the wetness of your curd, you will have to add more semolina as you go. The dough should not be laden with semolina, just enough to bind the curd and egg mixture, so that your dumplings will stay light and fluffy. (Sorry for not being more precise here, but since every country makes different kinds of curd, you'll have to experiment a bit ;-))
Cover and leave to stand in a cool place for an hour.
In the meantime, prepare the coatings.
Toast the ground almonds in a non-stick pan (no need for fat!) until they start to lightly brown. Leave to cool slightly, then combine with 2 tbsp of the icing sugar. Set aside. Proceed as above with the pecans.
Combine the poppy seeds and 2 tbsp of sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Prepare a rhubarb & strawberry or any other fruit compote you want to serve the dumplings on - I would use roughly 2 stalks of rhubarb, 200 g strawberries, 70 g sugar, juice of half a lemon and half a tbsp freshly grated ginger.(Proper recipe to follow soon!).
When the dough is well rested, fill a large pot with water and bring to a simmer. Try with one dumpling first, to see whether it will hold its shape. (If it doesn't, add more semolina and try again an hour later).
Peel and core the apple, then grate. Drain out any excess water. Take out ⅓ of the dough and season with cinnamon, then fold in the apple.
Prepare the dumplings in batches and reserve in a warm place.
Using two wet spoons (the size is completely up to you, but I tend to use dessert spoons, or small tablespoons) cut dumplings roughly in the shape of a rugby ball and drop into the water. You have to proceed fairly quickly to make sure they'll be done at the same time.
The dumplings might fall to the bottom and stick, so make sure you go in gently with a spoon to release them. You know that they're cooked when they rise to the surface - this should not take much more than 3 minutes, but will depend on the amount of semolina as well, so again, no hard-set rules! Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve in a warm place until all the dumplings are cooked.
Roll the moist and warm dumplings in the various coatings - plain with almonds, plain with poppy and apple with pecan.
Serve on rhubarb & strawberry or any other fruit compote - or try a vanilla or chocolate sauce for a change!
* Very loosely based on a recipe found in an old clipping of an Austrian magazine - not sure which or how old it is, but it mentions a certain Dietmar F. Muthenthaler as the author.
** You can use ricotta instead of the curd, but be aware that the recipe might need quite considerable adjusting due to the fact that ricotta is usually wetter.
I have "Die Gute Kuchen", and yet you make these recipes seem a lot more manageable. Great!
By the way, we've launched a website which has the largest selection of Austrian wines available on the web (in the US). Could probably find the perfect wine to pair with each of your recipes! Please come check us out: www.winemonger.com
Posted by: Emily | Jun 19, 2005 at 04:26 PM
Ever since I had Topfenknodel at the Auerhahn in Salzburg I have wanted to make this dish. I have gotten close but the curds ingredient has proven to be a problem. I made my own based on a curd soup recipe. It was okay and after 4 or 5 tries it was almost right.
I remember the texture at the Auerhahn was light, fluffy and nearly impossible to describe. If ricotta is an easy substitute I'll give it a try.
Posted by: Kim Jones | Dec 06, 2007 at 03:29 AM