Plum Dumplings

It's autumn and about this time every year the plums ripen. In our little garden orchard we have two plum trees and nobody did any jam or jelly or anything with the extra sweet and flavorful plum harvest of 2011. So, I decided to make some plum dumplings or "silvas gombot". That is the Hungarian name, as they are a recipe brought in by the Hungarian side of my family, my mother! They could be, originally, a German recipe, but, who cares!?

INGREDIENTS (for 10 dumplings):

• one ripe plum (or half) per dumpling;
• 1 kg potatoes, yellow, crumbly;
• 300 gr. white all purpose flour;
• 2 eggs;
• 250 grams fine bread crumbs;
• 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil; 
• 5-7 tablespoons regular sugar;
• 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon.

HOW TO MAKE:

First prepare your plums and your breadcrumbs, both you are going to use later. The plums you deseed and put in a bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar and some cinnamon to taste. Mix a little and let sit for half an hour.

In that time heat a pan with the oil and the breadcrumbs. Mix the oil and breadcrumbs well with a wooden spoon and keep string on medium heat until the content of the pan gets darker and smells a little roasted. Not too dark, just darker. You'll know not to burn it. Set aside to cool and later mix in about 5 tablespoons sugar.

The dough you make from about 1 kilogram of boiled potatoes and 300 grams of flour (it's enough for about 10 dumplings). Boil the potatoes well, about half an hour or however much necessary until soft (test by sticking with a fork). Peal them (if boiled with skin on, I do it like that) and than mash them well. Let them cool for 15 minutes and then you can stir in the 300 grams flour. Always add flour 1/3 the weight of the potatoes. Add 2  eggs and knead the dough a bit, 1 or 2 minutes. Make a sheet of dough about a finger thick and cut it into 5 to 7 cm squares.

In each square you put a plum or half a plum and make a round dumpling as best as you can manage. There are no rules. Just get the plums inside the dough patches.

You bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and get the pan with breadcrumbs close. Put some dumplings into the boiling water. Make sure they aren't to crowded so they don't stick together. Let them boil until they come to the surface all by themselves. That's the sign they are done. Let each dumpling boil 2 more minutes on the surface of the water and then scoop them out one by one and roll them on all sides into the breadcrumbs and sugar pan, as they are still wet and hot. They will get a delicious breadcrumby and sugary coating.

Serve hot or cold with more sugar on top!