Go Back
–+ servings
Print

Austrian Strawberry Topfen Dumplings

The recipe below yields enough dumplings to serve 6 hungry people.

Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chilling time 2 hours
Servings 18 dumplings
Calories 218 kcal

Ingredients

Dumplings

  • 2 eggs
  • 3 ½ ounces (100 g) butter room temperature
  • 18 ounces (500 g) quark or farmer’s cheese (Topfen 20% fat)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • Scant 2 cups (270 g) flour (use griffiges in Austria)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 16-20 medium-sized strawberries fresh or frozen

Crumb coating

  • 3 ½ tablespoons (50 g) butter
  • 7 ounces (200 g) dry bread crumbs
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

To serve

  • Powdered sugar for sifting over the dumplings

Instructions

  1. To make the dumpling dough cream the butter in a bowl with a hand mixer and add the eggs while continuously beating. The mixture will look curdled at this point! Add the quark, vanilla, sugar, flour and salt and mix everything together. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours (very important!).

  2. Wash and dry fresh strawberries and remove stem. Frozen strawberries do not need to be thawed.

  3. To shape the dumplings keep your hands well-floured. Using a soup spoon scoop out a generous portion of dough, flatten it with your hands, place a strawberry on the dough and wrap the dough around the strawberry, sealing the edges. Make sure the seam isn’t visible. Lightly shape the dumpling into a round ball. Place dumplings on a plate and keep chilled.*

  4. 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.

  5. 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. Lightly nudge the dumplings with the spoon to unstick them from the bottom of the pot.

  6. Once they have come to the surface, simmer the dumplings for an additional 5 minutes. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon and roll them in the toasted crumbs to coat. Place finished dumplings on a platter while cooking the rest. Serve dumplings warm with additional crumbs and powdered sugar.

  7. Store leftover dumplings and crumbs in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. Dumplings and crumbs can be reheated in the microwave. You can also lightly toast the crumbs in a pan to crisp them up if you wish.

Recipe Notes

*The raw dumplings can also be frozen. Make sure they aren’t touching until they are frozen solid. To prepare: place frozen dumplings into simmering salted water. Once the dumplings have come to the surface of the water, cook them for an additional 5 minutes. Remove dumplings with a slotted spoon and roll them in toasted crumbs.