Jam Dumplings Recipes

JAM DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For dumplings: Stir all dry ingredients together; cut in shorting until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually stir in enough milk to make dough soft.
• For syrup: Make syrup of the jam by adding jam and water in a large pot. When syrup in melted down and comes to a boil, reduce heat and drop biscuit dough on top by the teaspoonful.
• Cover at once; simmer for 12 minutes. Remove dumplings and arrange in a deep serving dish. Pour remaining syrup around dumplings and serve hot.

STEAMED SWEET AUSTRIAN DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Mix the instant yeast with the flour, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla sugar, and salt.
• Add the egg, softened butter and milk and mix, using a dough hook or with a spoon by hand, until a medium-soft dough forms.
• If you are using a mixer with a dough hook, you can continue kneading in the bowl with the hook until the dough is smooth and elastic. Adjust flour or milk as needed to make a pliable but not sticky dough. If you are making the dough by hand, turn it out onto a lightly floured board and knead until it is smooth and elastic. If the dough is too stiff, knead with wet hands until it becomes softer.
• Form the dough into a ball, flour lightly and place in a bowl to double in a warm place.
• Cover with a clean towel. Let it rise about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
• If you are adding rum and/or cinnamon to the jam, stir it together now. You can use any jam flavor or cherries or Nutella, too.
• Remove the dough from the bowl to a lightly floured board.
• Pinch off 2-ounce pieces; you can make them larger, but they will take longer to steam.
• Roll the pieces into a ball and then flatten them with your palm to form 4-inch circles.
• Add 2 teaspoons of the jam filling to the center or each ball of dough and then pull up opposite sides and pinch closed. Pinch the other two sides closed and make sure the jam is well-sealed inside the dough. Roll the dumplings bit in your hands to round up the dumpling.
• Set the dumplings on the floured board, sprinkle with flour if you wish, and cover with a cloth. Let them sit 10 to 20 minutes.
• If you have a Silit pressure cooker , grease the steamer insert and put in 3 dumplings at a time. You could also use a bamboo steamer or a metal vegetable steamer covered with a cotton cloth cut to fit.
• Place 1 to 2 inches of water in the pan, hang the steamer over the water and bring to a boil.
• Place the dumplings on steamer over boiling water, leaving about 1 inch of room to rise in all directions.
• Cover the pan and steam 20 minutes in several batches.
• Grind equal amounts of poppy seeds and sugar in a poppy seed grinder or a blade coffee grinder. Set aside.
• Place 1 or 2 dumplings on a plate and pour melted butter over the top. Sprinkle the poppy mixture over the top, as desired.
• You can also make the vanilla sauce while you are waiting for the dough to rise. Pour the vanilla sauce and poppy seed mixture over the top when you are ready to serve.

JAM DOUGHNUTS

Steps:

• Put 150g water and all the dough ingredients, apart from the butter, into the bowl of a mixer with a beater paddle. Mix on a medium speed for 8 mins or until the dough starts coming away from the sides and forms a ball. Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest for 1 min.
• Start the mixer up again on a medium speed and slowly add the butter to the dough - about 25g at a time. Once it's all incorporated, mix on high speed for 5 mins until the dough is glossy, smooth and very elastic when pulled.
• Cover the bowl with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave to prove until it's doubled in size. Knock back the dough in the bowl briefly, then re-cover and put in the fridge to chill overnight.
• The next day, take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into 50g pieces (you should get about 20).
• Roll the dough pieces into smooth, tight buns and place them on a floured baking tray, leaving plenty of room between them, as you don't want them to stick together while they prove.
• Cover loosely with cling film and leave for 4 hrs or until doubled in size. Fill your deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan halfway with oil. Heat the oil to 180C. Read our guide on how to deep-fry safely for more essential information.
• When the oil is heated, carefully slide the doughnuts from the tray using a floured pastry scraper. Taking care not to deflate them, put them into the oil. Do 2-3 per batch, depending on the size of your fryer or pan.
• Fry for 2 mins each side until golden brown - they puff up and float, so you may need to gently push them down after about 1 min to help them colour evenly.
• Remove the doughnuts from the fryer and place them on kitchen paper.
• Toss the doughnuts in a bowl of caster sugar while still warm. Repeat the steps until all the doughnuts are fried, but keep checking the oil temperature is correct - if it's too high, they will burn and be raw in the middle; if it's too low, the oil will be absorbed into the doughnuts and they will become greasy. Set aside to cool before filling.
• To fill the doughnuts, make a hole with a small knife in the crease of each one, anywhere around the white line between the fried top and bottom.
• Fill a piping bag with jam and pipe into the doughnut until nicely swollen - about 1 tbsp per doughnut. After filling, the doughnuts are best eaten straight away, but will keep in an airtight tin.