Chocolate & pecan dumplings with cinnamon nut crumbs

I am amazed at all the wonderful creations I am receiving from fellow foodbloggers out there for our fabulous "Waiter, there's something in my..." event, now in its 6th instalment, where the theme is DUMPLINGS, of course. Here is my own contribution and, so nobody could say I had an unfair advantage, being Austrian and all, I decided to leave my comfort zone a bit with dumplings I had not tried before. But to be frank, it's not like I make our traditional Austrian dishes every day and I certainly don't have years of daily practice of dumpling rolling anyway!
Years ago I saw a mouthwatering picture of "Nougatknödel" in some magazine and stuck it in my recipe folder - no suitable occasion ever presented itself for making it, so I just knew that they were the right thing for this event. I didn't follow the recipe, mainly because I haven't yet managed to get my hands on some Nougat here, which, confusingly, is not the chewy French nougat (de Montmélimar) or Spanish turrón, stuffed with nuts and/or dried fruit that we call "Turkish honey" back home... our "Nougat", sometimes called "Viennese nougat", is basically a more solid version of a noisette (hazenut and chocolate cream) filling and is just mouth-wateringly delicious if bought at the right source. Confiseries up and down the country will sell their own, home-made version of it in all its glorious creaminess.
I had to resort to making my own - of course, there are people who will just take a chocolate truffle or a Mozartkugel for a centre (heretics!), but I was intent to make my own - grind some nuts, melt some chocolate, how hard can it be? Well, it wasn't hard, but then it didn't taste like the real thing either. Never mind, the dumplings turned out great for what they were, not a noisette centre (in hind-sight I could have scooped and frozen Nutella, maybe, but then I am not a cheat, am I?), but a fluffy dough of curd/quark/ricotta and brioche crumbs with a molten centre of good quality dark chocolate and grated pecan nuts, and some brown sugar for extra sweetness. Cooked for a mere 15 minutes in gently simmering water, then rolled in a mixture of pecans, breadcrumbs and a tad cinnamon, they were a welcome comforting dessert on a cold and dreary evening in June. And while certain people were discussing whether dumplings were summery enough a theme, I can report that we even had the heating going yesterday... so never mind a summery theme, at least nobody could say it didn't fit the weather!

Other dumpling recipes on thepassionatecook:
Spinach dumplings with blue cheese sauce (Spinatknödel mit Kaesesauce) - August 2004
Bacon-stuffed dumplings with white cabbage salad (Speckknödel mit Krautsalat) - August 2004
Yeast dumplings with plum preserve and poppyseeds (Germknödel mit Powidl und Mohn) - June 2004
Threesome of curd dumplings with rhubarb-strawberry compote (Topfenknödel mit Erdbeer-Rhabarber-Kompott) - May 2005
Truffled bread dumplings with red cabbage (Semmelknödel mit Trüffel und Rotkraut) - October 2006
Meatball dumplings with sauerkraut (Hascheeknödel mit Sauerkraut) - January 2005

"Nougat" (chocolate & pecan) dumplings with cinnamon nut crumbs
(makes 20 - 24 small dumplings)

For the filling*:
100 g pecans
170 g dark chocolate
50 g brown sugar

For the dough:
500 g quark (curd cheese or ricotta)
120 g brioche crumbs
120 self-raising flour
60 g butter
2 large eggs
lemon zest (optional)
2 tbsp vanilla sugar

For the coating:
150 g breadcrumbs
150 g pecans (ground)
generous pinch cinnamon
icing sugar

First, prepare the filling.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie or a bowl over simmering water. Stir in the sugar and nuts, then leave to cool and solidify. (Once the mixture is at room temperature, you can transfer the bowl to the fridge, to speed things up.)
When the chocolate mixture is solid, use a melon baller to scoop balls of ca. 2 cm diameter, roll in your hands to smooth and even out. Place on a small baking tray and transfer to the freezer for about an hour.

To make the dough, place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until well combined. Place bowl in the fridge and keep there for an hour.

Now assemble the balls. You will find this easier to do if you keep your hands moist, but not dripping wet.
Take out a small amount of dough (ca. 1 heaped tbsp full) and make a flat round patty in the palm of your hand. The dough should be no more than 1 cm thick and almost completely envelop the chocolate ball you will now place in its centre (if you use self-raising flour, the dough will still expand in the cooking process). Stretch the dough gently to fully enclose the chocolate, making sure that the seams are tightly closed. Roll between your hands to smooth them. (At this stage, you can refrigerate, or even freeze, the dumplings - in which case you might need to increase the cooking time a little)

In a large pot, bring some lightly salted water to the boil. Reduce heat, then drop in a batch of dumplings and GENTLY SIMMER for 15 minutes, longer if previously frozen or refrigerated (see above). (If the water is too hot or rolling too vigorously, the soft dough might disintegrate.

In the meantime, prepare the coating. Place breadcumbs, cinnamon and ground pecans in a frying pan - no addition of oil or butter needed, although you can add some butter for extra flavour. Continuously stirring, cook until browning and fragrant. Turn the heat off.

When the dumplings are done, lift them out of the water with a slotted spoon, drain them thoroughly, then place directly in the breadcrumb mixture. Roll gently to coat evenly, then transfer onto serving plates. If you're making large quantities, you can place them in the moderately warm oven (80 C) in the meantime.

Serve hot, sprinkled with icing sugar and accompanied by a fruit compote, if you wish (stewed rhubarb and strawberry being one delectable combination).

* If you can get your hands on Viennese nougat, just use that, scoop out 2 cm pieces and roll to form even balls, then proceed as per recipe.

Comments

[Pille]

Oh, JOhanna, these are wonderful!! The combination of ingredients makes me drool, and the picture is just an icing on the cake!!
I'm so trying to make dumplings tomorrow now!

[Mevrouw Cupcake]

the churros and now this?! you are passionate! ;-)

[johanna]

passionate? gluttonous, more like! but i did share both...

[Ulrike]

Yummy! And I am right: Austria is the dumpling country and of course dumplings are summery, especially if you use "Topfenteig". I am brushing up my Austian German, today we had "Schwammerl" ;-)

[aria]

i've come to investigate this blogging event from the nutella dumpling department. aydios mio! oh i hope i have time to do some dumplings this weekend, those look SO sweet and delicious!

[The Cooking Ninja]

mmm...I'm drooling. Yummy

[Johanna]

Those look absolutely delicious - I would love those chocolate centres - and i think your filling would taste much nicer than nutella

[candy]

i am always drawn to foods with wonderful creamy surprises inside like this. it looks wonderful!

[Rosa]

Very interesting dumplings! Scrummy looking, mmhhhh!

[Katia]

Schaut köstlich aus!!!!!!!

Hätte ich jetzt gerne hier.....

[brilynn]

Those have me drooling, they take dumplings to a whole new level.

[Amy]

These look sooooo delicious! What an inventive dumpling!