Homemade Topfen (curd cheese) Dumplings are a staple of the Austrian diet and these dumplings are one of the dishes I make on a regular basis for our family. I usually make Topfen Dumplings after a starter of some kind of vegetable soup. They are a great dessert and don’t call for a lot of sugar.
Topfen is an Austrian curd cheese that has a similar flavor to cream cheese. It is also known as quark or farmer’s cheese. I adore topfen as you can see by the many topfen recipes I already have on the blog. 😉
Most of my recipes are simple and quick to make and these dumplings are no exception. This recipe makes enough for 4 servings but I always make a double recipe to ensure we have enough leftovers and I use 3 whole eggs (instead of 2 yolks and 2 whole eggs) to reduce waste.
- 9 ounces (250g) topfen 20% fat (quark or curd cheese)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 whole egg
- 2 tablespoons (25 g) melted butter
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½-1 tablespoon dark rum
- Grated zest of half an organic lemon
- Pinch salt
- 100g dry bread crumbs
- 2 ½ tablespoons (30g) butter
- 5 ounces (150g) dry bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- powdered sugar, plum sauce (recipe here) or other fruit sauce like strawberry sauce (recipe here)
- For the dumplings: Using a wooden spoon, stir together all ingredients except the bread crumbs in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the bread crumbs. With wet hands, shape small dumplings (about 1⅔ inches or 4 cm in diameter) and place them on a dinner plate.
- In a large, wide pot, bring salted water to a boil. Reduce heat and lay the dumplings into the simmering water. To prevent splashing hot water on your hands, place dumplings on a slotted spoon and lower them into the water. Simmer dumplings for 10 minutes. Lightly nudge the dumplings with the spoon to unstick them from the bottom of the pot. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon and roll them in the toasted crumbs to coat.
- For the crumb coating: Melt the butter in a large frying pan and slowly toast the breadcrumbs, stirring often and watching carefully to prevent them from burning. Remove from heat and stir in the granulated sugar.
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